A $236 million California program championed by Governor Gavin Newsom and promoted as a solution to the state’s mental health and homelessness crisis has reportedly helped just 22 people in four years, according to newly surfaced reports.
The program, known as CARE Court, was launched in 2022 and billed by Newsom as a “completely new paradigm” designed to move people with severe mental illness off the streets and into treatment. State estimates initially suggested as many as 12,000 people could benefit, with later analyses indicating that up to 50,000 individuals might be eligible.
In reality, the numbers tell a far different story.
According to reporting cited by the New York Post and the Daily Mail, only 22 people have ultimately been placed into court-ordered treatment since the program’s launch. As of October, roughly 3,000 petitions had been filed statewide. Of those, just 706 were approved — and 684 of those approvals were voluntary agreements that did not fulfill the program’s core objective of mandating treatment for those cycling between homelessness and jail.
There’s more than one way to commit fraud against taxpayers. Newsom’s CA does them all. https://t.co/NlwmXLEVY6
— Sam Adolphsen (@SamAdolphsen) January 27, 2026
Despite the staggering gap between expectations and results, the program has already consumed $236 million in taxpayer funds. Critics are now asking where that money went, how much administrators and consultants were paid, and why the outcomes have been so minimal.
Newsom has disputed the report’s conclusions, but the findings have not come as a surprise to many Californians. The state has repeatedly poured massive sums of money into homelessness initiatives over the years, only to see the crisis worsen while entire industries grow around managing — rather than solving — the problem.
Again and again the money never gets to the people it’s supposed to help.
Where’s the money @CAgovernor @GavinNewsom? https://t.co/0hp5ex4zbw— TAM (@tm4csons) January 28, 2026
As California’s streets remain overwhelmed by homelessness and untreated mental illness, critics argue that the governor’s priorities are misplaced. Some say that if Newsom spent less time attacking President Trump on social media and more time ensuring accountability for costly state programs, the results might look very different.