Gov. Gavin Newsom announced California would spend another $291 million on his controversial homeless prisoner program – despite criticism it’s not delivering results.
The Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment program (CARE) is supposed to help mentally-ill offenders who bounce between between homelessness and jail.
The CARE court is supposed to empower families to ask courts to compel an individual into treatment.
Newsom hyped the program as a “paradigm shift” when it was launched 2022, but it has since been described as a failure by people involved and failed to make a significant dent in street conditions.
Newsom initially estimated between 7,000 and 12,000 people statewide would quality for CARE court, but California courts have received just 3,800 CARE petitions, with most tossed out in counties like San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The program, which has already has already cost the California more than $300million.
A damning CalMatters investigation also found that just 684 “treatment agreements” — voluntary promises to seek care that are not enforceable — and just 22 court-ordered plans as of October 2025.
At Monday’s announcement, the governor appeared to blame counties such as San Francisco and Santa Clara for not properly implementing the program, placing ten counties on an “Improvement list.”
“Through CARE Court, we have seen inspirational stories of recovery and resilience, but many counties continue to lag behind their peers,” Newsom said in a statement.
“Local leaders have a moral and legal obligation to deliver this transformational tool for those who need it most. We will not accept failure and excuses when lives are on the line.”
Santa Clara County executive James R. Williams dismissed the criticism, saying their approach was grounded in ”what works” rather than ”defaulting to lengthy, costly, and often inadequate court-based processes.”
A spokesman for San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie claimed the city was already using ”every tool in our toolbox to address the crisis on our streets.”
”Encampments are at record lows, more people are getting connected to shelter and treatment… and we welcome any additional support from our state partners to strengthen CARE Court ,” he said.
Meanwhile, the governor batted away questions about the race to succeed him as California governor — claiming the public doesn’t seem to care much either about the underwhelming field of contenders.
Instead, Newsom says he’s more focused on issues such as energy suppl, his controversial CARE court program. Californians were also more interested in Donald Trump, and local political issues, such as Prop. 50, which redraws the electoral map.
The governor has refused to weigh in on the race even amid Democratic panic that two Republicans at the top of the field — former Fox News Steve Hilton and former Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco — could wind up winning the top-two primary in June, locking Dems out of the race entirely.
“It’s been hard to focus on that race,” Newsom admitted at a Monday press conference in Hayward about funding for CARE Court, his much-criticized plan to help mentally ill criminal defendants.
“I honestly haven’t taken a look, nor do I think the public has.”
A recent poll showed Hilton with 14% support among likely voters, followed by former Rep. Katie Porter with 13% and Bianco at 12%. Democratic support is heavily splintered among Rep. Eric Swalwell, billionaire activist Tom Steyer and a handful of others, including former Attorney General Xavier Becerra and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.
Nonetheless, Newsom said he is “not as directly engaged as perhaps I might need to be” in the race.
There was a “series of circumstances that have shifted attention … Prop. 50, whether Padilla was going to get in, Kamala was going to get in,” he continued.
“When I’m out in the community people aren’t talking to me about it, which is interesting this late,” he said.
