The King County Crisis Care Centers Levy will appear as Proposition 1 on the April 25 Special Election ballot. The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce has endorsed this measure and encourages you to vote for approval. You can read the full proposition, along with statements in favor and opposition, here.
People in Crisis Have Nowhere to Go
King County currently lacks the capacity to treat the rising number of behavioral health crises, according to the King County Executive Department. Today, there is just one 46-bed crisis center to serve a population of 2.3 million people, and residential treatment beds for longer stays are dwindling. Since 2018, the county has lost 1 in 3 beds. With few options for care, people in crisis often face a difficult decision: forego treatment, or alert emergency responders and be brought to an emergency room or, in some cases, end up in police custody. Police officers have long been the “primary responder(s) for people in behavioral health crisis,” said King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall. A robust behavioral health response system could improve “the effectiveness of law enforcement, allowing officers to respond to higher priority public safety incidents,” Cole-Tindall said.
Crisis Care Centers and Residential Treatment Facilities
If approved by voters, the nine-year, $1.25 billion property tax levy would go into effect in 2024. The county would partner with community providers to:
- Create five new regional Crisis Care Centers, four that provide walk-in services for children and adults with the potential for short-term stays when necessary, and one center solely dedicated to serving youth.
- Preserve and restore the loss of residential treatment beds.
- Grow the behavioral health workforce by investing in equitable wages and career pathways. through apprenticeships, higher education, and training programs.
- Provide services while centers are constructed, via mobile and site-based crisis services.
Property owners could expect to pay 14.5 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value, or an additional $121 in taxes in the levy’s first year for a median-priced home.
Access to a network of reliable and effective behavioral health treatment centers would ease the burden on our regional law enforcement departments, allowing them to refocus resources on responding to crime, making us all safer and better cared for. The Seattle Metro Chamber believes that securing a robust behavioral health system is an essential step in the all-of-the-above approach needed in our region to make progress toward improving public safety.
These centers will ensure that all our neighbors have access to the care they require, where and when they need it.
To learn more about the Crisis Care Centers Levy reach out to Director of Policy Sarah Clark at SarahC@www.seattlechamber.com
To learn more about how your organization can contribute to the campaign, reach out to Senior Vice President of the Executive Department, Alicia Teel at AliciaT@www.seattlechamber.com