Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers on Monday announced that Snohomish County is awarding $8 million of its federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation to five capital projects that increase behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment capacity. According to an announcement from Somers’ office, these projects will serve at least 440 new individuals each year, with the capacity to serve thousands, and the majority of projects focus on increasing treatment services for youth and families.

Among those awarded funding are behavioral health services offered by the Lynnwood Neighborhood Center and the Edmonds School District.

“The isolation and disruption caused by the pandemic have undoubtedly worsened challenges related to behavioral health across Snohomish County and the country,” Somers said. “As we talked to communities about ways to recover and move forward from COVID-19, there was consistent agreement around the need to expand affordable, high-quality behavioral health capacity serving all parts of the county. Snohomish County continues to advance holistic, comprehensive efforts to address issues related to behavioral health and substance use. Ultimately, we need a significant influx of state and federal dollars to address these multi-faceted and complex issues.”

“With the new legislation approved by the state to fix Blake and ensure drugs are not decriminalized, we must do our part to improve access to behavioral health and substance use disorder services,” added Snohomish County Council Chair Jared Mead, who represents Mountlake Terrace and Brier in the 4th District. “Addiction takes a heavy toll on our families and the community at large, and these programs are the best way for us to help those who are suffering.”

“The best places for people to heal are within their own community,” said Snohomish County Councilmember Strom Peterson, representing Edmonds, Lynnwood and Woodway in the 3rd District. “I am proud to stand with Executive Somers and his commitment to help fund these critical projects that will offer holistic services throughout the county.”

The vast majority of awarded projects – $7,750,000 – originate from submissions to the county’s Behavioral Health Facilities Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). Increasing behavioral health services was identified as a top community priority during the county’s communitywide pandemic recovery engagement effort. All funded projects are detailed below.

Evergreen Recovery Centers – New Evergreen Manor Family Center: $2,920,000

The Evergreen Manor Family Center is a 27,500-square-foot facility that will provide long-term housing and behavioral health treatment for opioid-dependent pregnant and parenting women and their children. The live-in facility will include short-term housing during treatment and a co-located child care center. The facility will serve 200 mothers and children annually and will accommodate homeless mothers with multiple children to keep families intact and enable all family members to receive specialized services. The neonatal unit will serve as many as 60 infants in a year in a supportive environment designed to enhance early attachment.

Volunteers of America Western Washington – Lynnwood Neighborhood Center: $1,594,320

As part of the larger Lynnwood Neighborhood Center project, 3,000 square feet of space will be dedicated to behavioral health services providing 40 individual appointments per day. Services offered include individual and group services for mental health counseling, family support, behavioral health integration (with on-site child care classrooms as well as on-site medical services) and community-based intensive services for children, youth, and adults. Service levels and impact will likely be far greater than 40 appointments per day due to group sessions, workshops, and supportive programming.

Edmonds School District – Behavioral Health Services Expansion: $1,810,225

Edmonds School District will support a school-based health center at Meadowdale High School that will provide behavioral health services for public school students. This project will remove barriers for students and families trying to access health care and behavioral health programs and will allow student’s the ability to self-advocate for care. Access to care will be provided to student in person during the school year and available for telehealth appointments during school breaks and non-school days. Currently, behavioral health partners are able to see 126-132 students each week across five high schools. With the expansion, the district will be able to serve approximately 140 additional students per week for behavioral health services with expanded offerings.

Housing Hope – New Tomorrow’s Child Development Center: $1,460,000

Housing Hope will construct a designated behavioral health space within the Tomorrow’s Hope Child Development Center. This facility will provide theraplay, parent child interaction yherapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy and other research-based interventions for children ages 3-12 who have experienced homelessness, poverty or other adverse childhood experiences. This new space will allow Housing Hope to hire two new licensed mental health therapists to serve the children enrolled in the child care program. Housing Hope expects that these therapists will be able to serve 40 children and caregivers at any one time, totaling 60 children and caregivers per year.

Pioneer Human Services – North Sound Behavioral Health Facility: $250,000

This funding supports Pioneer Human Services’ operation of the North Sound Behavioral Health inpatient treatment facility located at the Denney Juvenile Justice Center. The pandemic has resulted in increased operational costs, primarily due to significant salary increases necessary to recruit and retain qualified personnel. Anticipated Medicaid rate increases in 2024 are expected to provide sufficient funding for future activities. During the last 12 months, 218 unique individuals received necessary treatment services addressing substance use disorder and mental health needs.

More information on the Office of Recovery & Resilience, formed to guide the county’s recovery work, can be found at www.snohomishcountywa.gov/recovery.