2018/05/23 Council Agenda Packet

North Sound Behavioral Health Organization Facilities and Recovery System of Care Plan Summary March 2017 NOTE: Please see reverse side of page for state capital budget request Overview Today, there is a growing behavioral health crisis with urgent—and unmet—treatment needs in Snohomish, Skagit, Island, San Juan and Whatcom counties (North Sound Counties). To address this crisis, the North Sound Behavioral Health Organization (BHO) and the North Sound Counties are pioneering an innovative, yet proven, approach to provide small-scale, localized treatment while working collaboratively across the counties to prioritize and maximize resources. Crucial to the success of this approach,the North Sound BHO and the North Sound Counties are requesting state capital budget assistance to ensure the creation of additional and appropriate treatment facilities, specifically to: • Address the historical lack of substance use disorder residential treatment facilities within the North Sound Region; • Address the increased demands for services due to population growth and expansion of the Medicaid caseload; • Provide adequate treatment resources to address the growing opioid epidemic; and, • Transition services from an outdated treatment model that is not financially sustainable to community based facilities that will serve the North Sound Counties (existing leases ending June 2018). Behavioral Health Crisis in the North Sound Counties Persons suffering from behavioral health crises present a growing challenge for the North Sound Counties. It is estimated that over half of the persons in local jails suffer from a behavioral health disorder. Persons needing psychiatric hospitalization continue to be cared for in local hospitals, which are not equipped to provide this care due to a shortage of state psychiatric hospital beds. The North Sound Counties have been particularly hit hard by the opioid epidemic. Nationally, more people died from drug overdoses in 2014 that in any year on record, and the majority of these drug overdoses involved an opioid. In the State of Washington, approximately 600 persons die each year from an opioid overdose; the largest increase in those deaths are among younger people. 20 percent of all Washington State opioid overdose deaths in 2013 happened in Snohomish County, which comprises only 11 percent of the state population. The other four North Sound Counties have seen a similarly disproportionate increase in opioid overdoses and opioid-related deaths. Governor Inslee's recently released Executive Order to combat the opioid crisis calls for increased access to treatment. In the North Sound Counties, there are insufficient Substance Use Disorder treatment beds given the size of our population and many persons must travel to Eastern Washington to receive treatment. This increases transportation costs, and makes it harder to keep persons connected with critical community support systems. The default for many persons suffering from an addiction crisis is a hospital emergency department, where the daily cost of care is more expensive than a day of care in a treatment facility.