North King News

The City of Shoreline, along with the north King County partner cities of Bothell, Kenmore, Kirkland, and Lake Forest Park, announces the siting of a new multi-service crisis response center dedicated to serving the behavioral health needs of community members across north and northeast King County. The new crisis center will be operated by Connections Health Solutions, a national innovator in behavioral health crisis care. The facility will be located at 11410 NE 122nd Way in Kirkland’s Totem Lake neighborhood, conveniently located near Evergreen Hospital and Highway 405. The crisis response center will be the first of its kind in King County to provide a spectrum of care services, from walk-in mental health urgent care to continued stabilization of behavioral health or substance use crises.

“The benefit to individuals in crisis, first responders, healthcare providers, and our community comes at a critical time, as the lasting impacts of the pandemic continue to be felt across our communities – and especially for those in need of life-saving behavioral health care,” said Shoreline Mayor Keith Scully.

The “no wrong door” clinic will be open to everyone regardless of severity of need or insurance status, and care will be available 24/7 with no appointment required. Connections expects to open the new facility in Kirkland in 2024.

“We’re honored to partner with the cities of Bothell, Kenmore, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park, and Shoreline to provide immediate access to care and to connect the North King County community to a local crisis response center where high-quality treatment occurs and hope is restored,” said Colin LeClair, Chief Executive Officer for Connections Health Solutions. “We look forward to the ongoing collaboration between the five cities and all partners as we bring immediate and accessible care to those in need.”

Connections’ effort to open the north King County facility is made possible, in part, by $21.52 million financial support from grants from the State of Washington and King County.

“Crisis stabilization centers are an effective and important tool in our state’s efforts to address behavioral health issues and reform approaches to behavioral health care and public safety,” said Governor Jay Inslee. “Our communities need a place where people in crisis can go to receive compassionate and focused behavioral health care. Programs like this that allow for first responder referrals decrease the use of jails and emergency rooms, which are not well-equipped to address these needs. I’m proud of the investments our state and our communities are making in these programs.”

“Providing a 24/7 place for people in crisis to receive effective care helps make recovery possible as part of a connected behavioral health system that provides people with the care they need when they need it in their communities,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “King County invested $11.5 million of state and local dollars toward this crisis center in Kirkland, and it’s the start of what we can achieve together when it comes to community behavioral health.”

“For too long, we have relied on our police officers, jails and courts to substitute for a missing behavioral health care system,” said King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski. “It’s an unfair burden on them, and unfair to our community. That’s why King County is proud to partner with the five North County cities in my district who are leading the charge to stand up the essential behavioral health response system our community needs. This new facility builds on the work we have done in recent years to create the RADAR program, partnering with law enforcement to ensure an effective response to community health and safety needs. We will now have a community-based care center to support our front-line mental health professionals in delivering compassionate and effective care to those in crisis, and enhancing public health and safety. I thank and congratulate all involved in this powerful partnership, and look forward to seeing its positive impact in North King County.”

Together with the national 988 Crisis Lifeline and the RCR (Regional Crisis Response) Agency, the new crisis response center fills a void of coordinated behavioral health care in King County by providing community members in crisis with three important resources: someone to call, someone to respond, and somewhere to go.

The RCR Agency was formed in collaboration by the partner cities of Bothell, Kenmore, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park, and Shoreline to provide consolidated and standardized regional mobile crisis response services for the five-city region

Original source can be found here.