VICTORVILLE, Calif., July 20 (High Desert News Online) — For San Bernardino County residents, the practical issue behind the CARE Act is not policy jargon. It is whether a person in need of behavioral health help can get connected to the right county, court and community resources without confusion.
State, county and city leaders met July 7 at Victorville City Hall to try to make that process clearer, according to the California Health and Human Services Agency. CalHHS said the gathering brought together partners from the state, San Bernardino County and the City of Victorville for training on the CARE Act process, outreach about available resources and coordination around referral pathways for eligible individuals and families.
What is the CARE Act?
The CARE Act is part of California’s statewide behavioral health system, and the governor’s office said statewide implementation began in December 2022 with a first cohort of counties. A San Bernardino County document describes the CARE Act as an “upstream intervention,” meaning it is meant to help connect people to support earlier in the process.
In plain terms, the program ties behavioral health services to a court-based process. That makes coordination important: people need to know where to go, who can help and how the petition process starts.
How is San Bernardino County implementing it?
San Bernardino County said it launched CARE Act implementation on Dec. 1, 2024, and that the Fontana Court District began accepting petitions on Dec. 2, 2024. A petition is the legal request that can start a CARE Act case.
County documents also say the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors formally approved CARE Act implementation in 2023, authorizing the Department of Behavioral Health and the Superior Court to begin implementing services.
The county has continued to hold coordination meetings. On Feb. 23, San Bernardino County Behavioral Health, working with the County Administrative Office and other CARE partners, hosted a site visit with representatives from CalHHS, the Judicial Council of California and state agencies including the Department of Health Care Services, the Department of State Hospitals and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, county materials said.
Why does the Victorville meeting matter?
CalHHS said the July 7 convening was part of a shared commitment by the state, San Bernardino County and the City of Victorville to support public education, implementation readiness and collaboration across the region.
That matters because implementation is not only about a law on paper. It also depends on whether local agencies know the steps, whether residents can find information and whether referrals move smoothly between behavioral health providers, county staff and the courts.
What happens next?
CalHHS said San Bernardino County’s Department of Behavioral Health planned a virtual CARE Act Information Session for July 15 from noon to 1 p.m. and a virtual CARE Act Office Hour for July 30 from noon to 1 p.m.
CalHHS also said its CARE Act Working Group will meet quarterly through Dec. 31, 2026, to support collaboration among state and local partners during county implementation. The CalHHS Working Group page lists a San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health representative, Dr. Alyce Belford Saldana, among its members.
For local readers, the takeaway is straightforward: the CARE Act is moving from statewide rollout into day-to-day local use in San Bernardino County, and Victorville is one place where officials are trying to make the process easier to understand and use.
