Dear friends and neighbors,
May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
I am excited to share the important steps we took this session to prioritize behavioral health care and promote stronger, healthier communities for all Washington families.
Implementing the 988 behavioral health crisis response and suicide prevention system (HB 1134): When our family members, friends, and neighbors are in crisis, they need access to services and support immediately. This bill funds mobile units and training for rapid-response teams, increases exposure for the crisis line, and provides better coordination between the 988 and 911 systems.
Establishing certified peer specialists (SB 5555): Peer specialists are people with lived experience who can help those in crisis find support when they need it most. This bill creates a new credential that will allow their services to be covered by health plans, greatly expanding access across the state.
Licensing music therapists (HB 1247): Music therapists work alongside work alongside audiologists, speech & occupational therapists, and physicians to help patients build developmental skills, improve their quality of life, and treat complex conditions like memory loss & depression. This bill, introduced by our own Rep. Julia Reed, will establish a new license for this profession to expand access to this incredible opportunity for care.
Strengthening behavioral health contracts (HB 1515): One of the biggest obstacles to addressing our state’s behavioral health crisis is providing services to families when and where they need them. This bill improves the procurement process to ensure access to appropriate and timely behavioral health services.
Creating a system to support children in crisis (HB 1580): Did you know that some children are finding themselves ‘stuck’ living in hospitals for days, weeks, or even a year while they wait for the behavioral health care they need? This bill creates a new crisis response care coordinator to pull together resources from different state agencies to get these young people out of the hospital and into appropriate care as soon as possible.
We also made significant investments in behavioral health care to ensure all Washington families have access to the care and services they need, including:
- $271 million to increase pay for behavioral health providers
- $133 million for local facility improvements to provide crisis diversion, secure detox and youth services
- $123 million for additional community bed capacity
- $115 million to expand opioid and substance use disorder treatment
- $78 million for competitive community behavioral health service grants
- $69 million to fund 988 crisis response and IT initiatives
- $55 million for crisis, outreach, and diversion programs
- $29 million for youth behavioral health care
|
|
As always, never hesitate to reach out to me by phone (360) 786-7860 or online. I hope to see you around the district!
Best wishes,
State Representative Liz Berry
36th Legislative District