Executive Constantine transmitted the Crisis Care Centers Levy implementation plan to the King County Council on December 29, 2023. It is available to view here: King County – File #: 2024-0011. The CCC Levy implementation plan describes how levy proceeds will be invested between 2024-2032, as required by the King County voter approved CCC Levy ballot measure, Ordinance 19572: King County – File #: 2022-0399
Approval of this proposed legislation is designed to transform the region’s behavioral health crisis response system by creating a network of five crisis care centers throughout the region; restoring the region’s flagging mental health residential facilities; and strengthening the workforce upon whom tens of thousands of King County residents depend for their behavioral health.
Crisis Care Centers: Somewhere Safe to Go
The national best practice for supporting people experiencing behavioral health crises is to create services that include someone to contact, someone to respond, somewhere safe to go, and someone to follow up. Currently, King County does not have a specialized behavioral health setting where anyone can walk in to get help, 24/7, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay for care. Thanks to the CCC Levy, we have the opportunity to fill this gap in care, while also bolstering other parts of our crisis care response.
For example, the plan also proposes early strategies to quickly invest in crisis services that can go into effect before crisis care centers are operational, such as:
- Expand mobile crisis services
- Embed behavioral health counselors in 911 call centers
- Expand access to opioid overdose reversal medication
- Capital facility funding to expand substance use services
- Preserve existing residential treatment facility capacity and build new capacity
- Invest in behavioral health workforce development and career pathways like training and recruiting
How the Implementation Plan was Developed
A team of behavioral health professionals at King County’s Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) led a six-month process to develop the proposed implementation plan. The plan is the embodiment of multiple streams of input – some of them technical, some experiential – that was gathered through extensive community engagement, regional and national site visits, and research, including:
- 64 Key Informant Interviews: 11 with providers with expertise in culturally and linguistically appropriate services and 12 with youth behavioral health providers
- 40 Community Meeting Presentations: 11 that included participants with lived experience of mental health/substance use conditions
- 20 Site & Field Visits: 10 behavioral health crisis facilities and 7 mental health residential facilities
- 16 Community Engagement Meetings: Approximately 49 attendees per meeting; focus on crisis system, youth, and substance use service partners
- 9 Focus Groups: Youth, peer specialists, veterans and active military personnel, aging and older adults
What’s Next
The process and timeline for approving the implementation plan will be driven by Council. The CCC planning team at DCHS is actively responding to questions about the proposed plan and continuing to engage in community conversations during this time.
Monthly Community Updates Every Third Tuesday
DCHS will provide monthly community updates every third Tuesday about its procurement and implementation planning, which will go into effect after the implementation plan is enacted:
- CCC Levy Implementation Plan Community Update: 3rd Tuesday, 2:30–3:30pm, February–April, Zoom meeting, Register Here
- Evening CCC Levy Implementation Plan Community Update: 3rd Tuesday, 6– 7pm, February–April, Zoom meeting, Register Here
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