King County is now seeking applications from behavioral health agencies interested in running one of five planned crisis care centers created under a voter-approved plan.
The walk-in centers are at the heart of a massive expansion of the county’s mental health system funded by a $1.25 billion property tax levy in 2023. The centers are meant to alleviate pressure on a strained mental health system; right now, people in crisis often end up in hospital emergency rooms or jail, or don’t get help at all.
The application opened Monday night, and behavioral health agencies have until Oct. 25 to submit a letter of intent. Agencies that are “launch ready,” able to provide clinical services soon after being selected, must submit a full proposal by Nov. 22, and contracts will be awarded in January. New site operators that will need to develop new facilities have until March 21 to submit a proposal, and contracts will be awarded in June.
The county will select operators for up to three centers in this round of applications, giving preference to proposals that demonstrate support from the local jurisdiction where the center would be located.
King County anticipates the first center could open in 2025, a year ahead of the original timeline. All five centers are expected to be open and operating by 2030.
“In the first months of this initiative we’ve strengthened crisis services and bolstered our behavioral health workforce, and we’re on track to select the first new crisis care center operator by January 2025,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a news release. “There is widespread support for these facilities and services because too many of our loved ones have waited far too long for the care they need.”
The levy divides King County into four crisis response zones, which will each host one center. A fifth center will specialize in serving youth. The plan requires sites to have “meaningful access to public transportation” and proximity to major arterial roads.
Earlier this year, the county gauged interest from cities and providers. The following cities expressed interest, according to King County documents obtained by a public records request:
- Bellevue
- Bothell
- Burien
- Kenmore
- Kent, Renton and Auburn
- Kirkland
- Lake Forest Park
- Redmond
- Seattle
The following providers expressed interest:
- RI International, an international nonprofit providing crisis response in Pierce and Thurston counties.
- Highline United Methodist Church, a church that operates the Burien Day Center & Severe Weather Shelter.
- Sound, a nonprofit mental health and addiction treatment provider in King County.
- Pioneer Human Services, a Seattle-based nonprofit assisting people with mental health problems or substance use disorders, and people reentering society after incarceration.
- Connections Health Solutions, a for-profit operator of behavioral health crisis care centers, including one in Kirkland.
- Fairfax Behavioral Health, a for-profit subsidiary of national health care company Universal Health Services.
- Downtown Emergency Service Center, a Seattle-based nonprofit providing services for homelessness, substance use disorders and mental health. DESC operates the Crisis Solutions Center, which offers similar services but requires a referral.
Each crisis center will contain a behavioral health urgent care clinic that could screen people and triage them to appropriate services, an observation unit where people could stay for up to 23 hours, and a short-term stabilization unit where people could stay for up to 14 days before being discharged or referred elsewhere. People will be admitted to the crisis centers voluntarily, regardless of their health insurance coverage or ability to pay.
A center in Kirkland with the same model opened in August, operated by Connections Health Solutions. The company plans to submit an application to the county, Morgan Matthews, the vice president of business development, said at the time of the center’s opening.
