Dear friends and neighbors,
Addressing our state’s youth behavioral & mental health crisis is one of the Legislature’s top priorities this session. While I’ve shared some of the measures we’re currently working on, today I wanted to lift up the voices of some of our children that don’t get the attention they deserve: those who find themselves ‘stuck’ living in our hospitals.
Many of us have had to visit the emergency room to receive immediate care. Whether it’s for a broken bone, a mysterious pain in your chest, or a severe allergic reaction, the hospital is the first place you go to get the treatment you need. This is often true for our young people in behavioral & mental crises, too.
For them, it may be about anxiety, depression, or self-harm. It’s about keeping them safe. But finding the right care for these children and their families can be challenging and complex.
Sometimes our young people need continued access to care even when hospitalization is no longer necessary. But for families that cannot provide that additional support, and there are no other places to turn for help, children can find themselves living in our hospitals for days, months, or even a year without a discharge plan. Even when hospitals don’t have the supports or services they need.
This is unacceptable. Hospitals are not homes for our children. Each day we wait to take action is another day these young people will be forced to stay there.
As Co-Chair of the Children & Youth Behavioral Health Workgroup, I’m working closely with my colleagues in the Legislature on a comprehensive, multiagency approach to provide these young people, and their families, the individualized support they need for their unique situation. House Bill 1580 will create a new executive branch-level care coordinator that will be able to pull together resources from multiple state agencies to get these children out of our hospitals and provide these young people and their families the support they need.
I’m also proud to co-sponsor Rep. Tana Senn’s HB 1188, which will allow our children in foster care to finally access developmental disability (DD) services. Not only does this fix a critical gap in services for our young people, but it will provide an additional pathway to care.
Both of these crucial bills were approved by the House Human Services, Youth & Early Learning Committee and now await further action. I’ll be sure to keep you updated as they move through the legislative process. I’ll also be making several specific budget requests in the coming weeks to ensure our children, their families, and our hospitals have access to the vital resources they need right now.
If you’d like to read more about these children’s experiences in our hospitals, check out this recent piece from the Seattle Times by clicking here.
It continues to be an honor to represent our community here in Olympia. Never hesitate to reach out to me if there’s anything I can do to better support you or your family. And be sure to follow me on Facebook for all the latest updates.
With gratitude,
State Representative Lisa Callan
5th Legislative District