King County OKs crisis centers plan, but now comes the hard part

The King County Council last week unanimously approved a plan to implement the voter-approved $1.2 billion property tax levy, which funds five walk-in, open-around-the clock crisis care centers and other mental health treatment programs.

The ordinance that sent the levy to the ballot last year requires at least one center in each of the four "crisis response zones" — central, north, east and south. Treatment at a fifth will be tailored to youth care.

Together the centers make up the "paramount purpose" of the initiative, according to its implementation plan. It's one of the largest investments in decades in the region's deteriorated behavioral health system.

Countywide, there is no walk-in urgent care facility, and the number of mental health residential treatment beds declined from 355 in 2018 to 244 in 2022.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2024/06/25/king-county-works-site-five-crisis-centers.html