Established in 1999 by Kristin Cadenhead, MD inside the UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry, the CARE Program — Cognitive Assessment and Risk Evaluation — runs a combined clinic and research lab focused on adolescents and young adults at clinical high risk for psychosis. Intake screens for prodromal symptoms using the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes, with neurocognitive and HIV-related comorbidities cross-referred to the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program led by Dr. Igor Grant, MD. The clinical service operates as a regional hub of EPI-CAL, California's node in the federally funded Early Psychosis Intervention Network. Treatment includes a Wellness Group, DBT skills cohorts, family psychoeducation, low-dose antipsychotic management, and tele-research enrollment options for participants outside San Diego County. Patients aging out of the youth-focused CARE protocol or stabilized on long-term medication transition to community psychiatry partners including Advanced Psychiatry Associates for ongoing maintenance care. The most complex cases involve first-episode psychosis evaluation with MRI brain imaging, blood-based pharmacogenomic screening, and the early-clozapine treatment protocol now under active study at the lab.