California has released a new statewide behavioral health dashboard designed to put county-reported planning, funding, services and performance data in one place. The launch came with new CARE Act figures showing that CARE pathways have reached more than 10,000 Californians since implementation began.
The new Behavioral Health Public County Profile gives residents a way to compare local behavioral health systems and see county-level information that was previously scattered across separate reports and agencies.
What the new county dashboard shows
According to the Governor’s Office and the California Department of Health Care Services, the profile brings together information on demographics, behavioral health planning and funding, homelessness and housing-related services, and selected performance measures.
The practical value is local visibility. A resident can look beyond a statewide total and examine how a particular county is planning and delivering behavioral health services. Policymakers, service providers and community organizations can also use the same data to compare progress and identify gaps.
CARE Act data now covers all 58 counties
California began CARE Act implementation in eight counties in 2023 and expanded the program statewide by December 2024. Through June 2026, the state says CARE pathways had reached more than 10,000 people.
More than 5,400 CARE petitions had been filed across 54 counties. The state reported 1,414 voluntary CARE agreements and 56 court-ordered CARE plans, while nearly 4,900 people who first engaged through CARE were referred to services outside the formal CARE process.
The CARE Act focuses on people with untreated or undertreated schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Eligible family members, first responders, behavioral health professionals and certain county staff can submit petitions, with a judge overseeing the process when a case proceeds.
Why county-level information matters
Behavioral health systems in California are heavily connected to county government. Treatment capacity, housing resources, outreach models and local needs vary significantly from Los Angeles County to rural counties in the north, the Sierra and the desert.
A statewide dashboard cannot by itself measure the quality of every individual experience, but it can make it easier for the public to see how local systems are using resources and how outcomes compare across California.
The broader Behavioral Health Services Act transition
The dashboard arrives after California’s July 1, 2026 transition from the Mental Health Services Act to the Behavioral Health Services Act, approved by voters through Proposition 1 in 2024. Counties are required to prepare integrated plans describing how behavioral health funding will be used over a three-year period.
California58 will use official county-profile data as one of the sources for future county pages and local civic-information coverage, while keeping government-reported data clearly attributed to the responsible agency.
Official sources
Governor of California – CARE Act and county behavioral health dashboard announcement
Behavioral Health Public County Profile
California Department of Health Care Services – CARE Act
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