Executive Dow Constantine has released details of a proposal to create a new “regional network” of emergency mental health care centers, calling for a new property tax levy to power the plan to create the five centers. The proposal could go to voters next April.
County officials say the new tax levy would go into effect in 2024 and would cost the median-value homeowner around an estimated $121 a year for nine years. The levy could raise as much as $1.25 billion through 2032 to fund construction of the five crisis care centers and increase services in the county.
“We must do more to deliver the behavioral health care people need, when they need it, especially in a moment of crisis. Today, we are telling the thousands of King County residents in behavioral health crisis, their families, and our communities – help is on the way,” Constantine said in a statement on the proposal. “The behavioral health system in this state has long been underfunded and underappreciated. The pandemic added further stress, and need is increasing even as we lose both treatment beds and qualified workers. Now, we can chart a path forward as a region – to create places where people can receive the effective care they need and begin their journey to recovery. This is an opportunity to make the generational investment our region needs.”
Officials have not said where the new crisis facilities would be located.
In addition to the new centers, the plan would include increased funding for the “recruitment and retention of the community behavioral health workforce,” as well boosting the number of “residential treatment beds” available in the county.
The plan is set to be part of Constantine’s 2023 budget proposal scheduled to be delivered Tuesday to the King County Council.
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This should be a state level plan rather than a county level plan. Other counties and states will just send their mentally ill to King County (as they already do), which will grow the regional problem.
It should be national but, since there’s little political will, all that’s left are small islands of compassion. To properly address the problem mitigates it’s exploitation for political gain. Also, complaining is cheaper than funding.
I suspect those businesses that carp the loudest about the “dangerous” unhoused ruining their foot traffic will also be the ones balking at paying for any plan.
Oh yes. The abominable businesses come to the fore again. You act as if these businesses are not suffering from crimes perpetrated upon them by the unhoused as well as the housed. All they want is an actual plan, preferably implementable in the near term, for dealing with people who have misplaced their mental faculties. And I guarantee, they will be happy to pay for programs and policies addressing mental health and substance abuse. Businesses are not the enemy. Sometimes their actually your friend.
Good point. But in the absence of such a plan from the state and the very real need here, what is the alternative?
But also, there seems to be a real lack of people trained in treating mental illnesses. Where are we to find people to staff these centers?
This should be part of a National effort, so people are not passed around like bad blunts between states when they need support from the state.
We have the funds (the army wouldn’t miss a few hundred missiles) it’s really how we choose to distribute them.
Turning back Reagan’s incredibly short sighted and awful laws around reducing mental health care support in the US would be step 1; followed by massive investment into helping those who need them, taking them off the streets, giving them the care they need; and diluting the pain from cities by making this a national (incl. suburbs) effort would make overnight changes for the better.
Sounds needed to me. Let’s also look at loosening involuntary commitment laws.
This sounds like a good start, on a much needed program that should have started 30+ years ago. Regardless, there needs to be diligent oversight and accountability, by not only the city, but the citizens as well. I’m fine paying the extra tax $ as long as it’s being put to good use and gets results.
Imagine a world where mental health and other healthcare services are free and easily accessible in every neighborhood… We have more than enough resources, it’s just a matter of public and political will. That world would be happier, healthier, and more productive, please try giving it a chance 🙏
This sounds like a much-needed proposal, and I will not hesitate to vote for the additional tax to fund it. My only concern is whether Seattle and its large homeless population will benefit most (new mental health centers, for example), because here is where the majority of the problem is.