Two years of Restorative Community Pathways, a community-led program for King County youth 

A fight breaks out in the cafeteria. In the heat of a disagreement between two high school students, a glass of water is thrown hitting someone in the head and splattering on the floor. Police are called to the school. From that moment in the cafeteria, the youth who threw the water is now involved…

New Funding Opportunity—Be Heard: BIPOC Voices about Mental Health & Wellness Community Listening Project

King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) Behavioral Health and Recovery Division (BHRD) is pleased to announce a Request for Applications (RFA) for the Be Heard: BIPOC Voices about Mental Health & Wellness Community Listening Project.  The primary goal is to help BHRD understand how to better serve individuals from BIPOC communities by…

Kelly Rider Now Serving as Acting Director of DCHS  

King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) welcomes Kelly Rider as the new Acting Director of the department! For nearly two decades, Kelly has worked on strategic initiatives across all levels of government and most recently served as Chief of Staff for the department.   Kelly joined DCHS in 2017 and began her…

New Actions to Stop the Surge of Fentanyl Overdoses and Expand Behavioral Health Treatment in King County

On Monday morning, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced a multi-part strategy across five priority areas to address the surge of fentanyl and stop the record overdose deaths in the region. The strategies expand behavioral health treatment, increase access to medications for opioid use disorder, and make overdose prevention tools and resources more widely available.…

King County Providing Temporary Support for Asylum Seekers in Tukwila  

Beginning in mid-November, a team of King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) volunteers, led by Leon Richardson, Adult Services Division Director, coordinated with the pastor at Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila to relocate 24 people seeking asylum from an encampment into eight rooms at a hotel in the area, with…

Crisis Care Centers Levy Purposes

The Crisis Care Centers Levy Implementation Plan Has Been Transmitted

The Crisis Care Centers Levy implementation plan has been transmitted. Designed to transform the region's behavioral health crisis response system, the plan includes creating a new network of five crisis care centers to give people a place to go for help when they need it. Extensive community engagement and professional input informed the plan.