No I don’t go to many meetings anymore – I had to blow off the last Ad Hoc development committee meeting to get some work done in my own life. Frankly, I’m tired of going to meetings and sitting through hours of reports and discussions without any chance to participate. At the development committee, the public was not allowed to raise a hand or participate in the discussion. Questions from the public had to be written down, and then the committee can decide whether or not to ask or answer them. There is no agenda and there are no staffers keeping notes.
Bill Brouhard is using this committee for his own gain, or at least, trying to. He’s a land broker, of course he wants more development. He’s using his bully pulpit to try and convince us we don’t have enough housing. Meanwhile, on next week’s agenda, another new housing subdivision comes up for approval. It’s just plain crazy!
Speaking of crazy, I asked a few questions about CARE Court in my last post, and Scott Kennelly came around to tell me I needed to go to a Butte County Behavioral Health Board Meeting. No, thank you, Mr. Time Vampire. I did my own research, and wow, was I shocked. Here’s an article from last year, where Kennelly explains why CARE Court is a moot issue. “having little or no practical relevance, typically because the subject is too uncertain to allow a decision.” I found this news story from a year ago, when Newsom made the mandate for all counties to implement CARE Court.
According to Kennelly, “At any time someone in care court can say they don’t want anything to do with this and walk, there’s no teeth…” And, at the time, Kennelly complained that BCBH did not have the staff or funding to implement it.
But what I found most distressing when I read more into this subject, CARE Court is not an option for drug or alcohol abuse, it only applies to the very mentally ill. Drug abuse will get a person sent to Drug Court, but only “nonviolent offenders whose were charged with a low-level crime such as drug possession.”
Seven counties implemented CARE Court last year, ahead of the state mandate.
https://www.cerescourier.com/news/local/care-court-and-running-so-how-effective-it/
“Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Court creates a new civil judicial division that handles petitions to get people with untreated schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders into county treatment programs. These individuals can be housed or unhoused. People with only substance use disorders, depression or other mental health issues do not qualify for CARE Court.“
Of the 30 petitioners, the article cites 12 “taken off the streets” without really explaining what that meant. Stanislaus County Assistant Chief Executive reads my mind – “I think at times people thought it was a silver bullet (for homelessness).” I naively thought it was the beginning of getting people off the street. I’ve dealt with friends, family and their circle of friends living on the street, and I honestly believe most people are on the street because of drugs, alcohol, and the mental and physical health issues related to substance abuse. But Kennelly is right – you can’t force people into drug treatment, that’s still against the law. I know I’ve never had the nerve, as bad as I wanted to, to tie somebody up and hold them against their will, force their meds down their throat, I could never do it. So we’re back to jail and prison, and overcrowding that has them right back on the street. No wonder Kennelly didn’t want to elaborate here, he has no solution.
Why do we even have a Behavioral Health Department?
Chico Taxpayers Association 
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