Summary: Today King County Executive Dow Constantine announced that Connections Health Solutions will operate King County’s first crisis center — a major milestone in the voter-approved, transformational investment to expand access to behavioral health care. 

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King County Executive Dow Constantine today announced that Connections Health Solutions will operate the first crisis care center in King County through the voter-approved Crisis Care Centers Initiative, providing behavioral health care for people experiencing a mental health, drug or alcohol crisis. Connections Kirkland, which opened last year, will continue serving North King County communities but will now be part of a new countywide network of five crisis centers.  

Today’s announcement is a major milestone as King County selects organizations to build and open five walk-in centers throughout the region. In 2023, King County voters overwhelmingly approved the Crisis Care Centers Initiative with the first center slated to open in 2025.   

“This award makes Connections Kirkland the first official crisis care center for King County,” said Executive Constantine. “We celebrated the opening of this facility in August, and today we celebrate the boost it will receive as a part of the Crisis Care Centers Initiative — making sure people can access the behavioral health care they need, when and where they need it.”   

Connections and the City of Kirkland opened the crisis center in August 2024, along with partner cities Bothell, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park and Shoreline. 

Selecting Connections Kirkland as a crisis care center ensures it will continue to meet the community’s evolving needs and provide accessible, high-quality specialized care. This includes:  

  • Providing mental health urgent care for people of all ages. The facility does not currently treat youth.    
  • Purchasing the facility building, securing a permanent location that anchors these vital services in the community for many years to come.  
  • Annual workforce funding to support competitive wages and ensure the recruitment and retention of a skilled workforce. 

“Connections is honored to be selected as a launch-ready site for King County’s Crisis Care Centers Initiative”, said Colin LeClair, chief executive officer of Connections Health Solutions. “The investment made through the Crisis Care Center levy is already creating real impact—expanding access to emergency behavioral health care and ensuring people in crisis receive the support they need, when and where they need it. This initiative strengthens our community’s ability to provide timely, compassionate care, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with King County to advance this critical work.” 

“We know that people in King County need a place to go that isn’t the ER and doesn’t require calling 911 or the police for help in a mental health or substance use crisis,” said Susan McLaughlin, Behavioral Health and Recovery Division Director, DCHS. “At the same time, our first responders also need a better place to take people. Connections Health Solutions created this safe, welcoming place in our North Crisis Response Zone and has a trained workforce that’s ready to serve anyone from King County who goes there for help. A proven leader in providing urgent care and crisis stabilization, we’re thrilled to award them as our first operator.” 

Connections Kirkland will begin operating as the first crisis care center in spring 2025. By the end of 2025, King County aims to select behavioral health organizations to run the second and third crisis care centers. The final two operators are expected to be chosen by 2026, with the goal of all five crisis care centers open in 2030.  

All of King County’s crisis services are available to everyone, regardless of insurance or ability to pay.    

The county also recently expanded the number of 24/7 mobile crisis teams. Over 20 teams travel across the county to de-escalate behavioral health crises and support people in person.  

For help, call or text 988 or the Regional Crisis Line at 206-461-3222.  

Councilmembers from the Metropolitan King County Council unanimously approved the Crisis Care Centers Implementation Plan in June 2024 and offered the following statements on today’s progress:

“Our communities are in desperate need of more recovery centers, and that’s exactly the problem we set out to solve when we all worked together to propose the Crisis Care Centers Levy a few years ago. I’m thrilled to see that the first center is opening ahead of schedule, bringing much-needed crisis care and recovery services to King County residents. With this new center in Kirkland, thousands of people experiencing behavioral health crises will have an additional resource to turn to during their darkest moments. This is why we do the work that we do—to create real solutions that help people when they need it most. Seeing policy and collaboration come to life in the form of an incredible new facility is a testament to what we can achieve when we prioritize care, urgency, and action.”
-Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, Council Chair, District 2 

“I want to extend my sincere gratitude to King County’s taxpayers for supporting our work to compassionately respond to people facing behavioral health challenges. I’m happy that our first official regional crisis center will serve north and east King County Residents, where we have worked for years to build a comprehensive crisis response system. I’m working to ensure we open the doors on our four other crisis care centers as soon as possible to deliver on our commitments to build a compassionate and effective behavioral health care system for all of King County.”  
-Councilmember Rod Dembowski, District 1  

“This is a shining example of what we can accomplish when we work regionally, cooperatively, and creatively: lives are saved, people receive the care they need, communities are safer. I am thrilled to be following through on our promise to King County residents to act quickly to provide these critical crisis mental health services. And I am grateful to the cities of Kirkland, Kenmore, Bothell, Lake Forest Park, and Shoreline whose trailblazing leadership has enabled us to move quickly and start to address an acute need for King County residents and communities.”
–Councilmember Claudia Balducci, District 6

“Selecting Connections Health Solutions as the service provider for King County’s first crisis care center is an important and exciting step in our county’s work to meet the urgent needs of community members in crisis, and the urgent requests from our first responders to provide an effective location for those services in our communities. Crisis care centers stop the financially devastating impact of responding to crisis and provide a space to take people for help to move forward. The North Crisis Response Zone serves many communities in my district including, Skykomish, Woodinville, Duvall, and unincorporated areas of Woodinville and Redmond. This is an exciting, and financially efficient milestone in the delivery of crisis care services to help our family, friends and neighbors in crisis, and to keep our communities safe and healthy for all residents of King County.”
-Councilmember Sarah Perry, District 3