Drafter
Clerk 12/29/2023
Title
AN ORDINANCE adopting the crisis care centers levy implementation plan, required by Ordinance 19572, Section 7.A., to govern the expenditure of crisis care centers levy proceeds from 2024 to 2032 to create a regional network of five crisis care centers, restore and expand residential treatment capacity, and increase the sustainability and representativeness of the behavioral health workforce in King County.
Body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. Federal and state investments in public behavioral health systems have been inadequate for decades. As funding for behavioral health services has remained inadequate, the needs of people in King County who are living with mental health and substance use conditions, collectively referred to as behavioral health conditions, have grown.
2. Among people enrolled in Medicaid in King County in 2022, 45,000 out of 88,000, which is 51 percent, of adults with an identified mental health need did not receive treatment, and 21,000 of 32,000, which is 66 percent, of adults with an identified substance use need did not receive treatment.
3. The gap in accessing behavioral health services is not evenly experienced across King County's population. There are significant inequities in service access and utilization among historically and currently underserved communities. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color populations are more frequently placed in involuntary treatment while having the least access to routine behavioral health care.
4. The scale of suffering related to mental health conditions and substance use remains persistently elevated. 1,229 people died by suicide in Washington in 2021, equivalent to 15.3 out of every 100,000 people, which is the 27th highest rate nationally. 292 people died by suicide in King County in 2021. Suicide deaths increased nationally by 2.6 percent from 2021 to 2022. Youth are especially impacted. According to the 2021 Healthy Youth Survey, 18.6 percent of King Count...

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