People in mental health crisis will have a place to go when a new care facility opens in 2024
Under the existing partnership of the five north King County cities, Kirkland, Kenmore, Bothell, Lake Forest Park and Shoreline, Connections Health Solutions of Arizona will build the new facility in Kirkland with more than $21.5 million, mostly in state funding with some help from King County, where people can walk in, get help from a 988 call or be taken by first-responders on a crisis response.
Governor Jay Inslee says police already have a hard job without putting mental health crisis response, for which they are not trained, on their plates. “Instead of transporting someone to the jail,” Inslee says, “[this] takes them to a crisis intervention center, where they can be stabilized and determine where the next step that they need to move forward.”
King County Councilman, Rod Dembowski, who represents the area, says they have a lot of jail inmates who need this help at a daily cost nearly double that of the average inmate. Dembowski says, “Frankly, we are breaking under the strain of inmates who are more sick than they are dangerous.”
Connections promises they’ll be able to serve 14,000 people a year, that no one will be turned away, and that they’ll have a treatment plan within 24 hours. It also says it offers referrals to other services, including ongoing mental health care, housing and social services. Northwest Newsradio asked how the care will be paid for, and we are still waiting for an answer.
