EVERETT — Community leaders face another challenging year caring for men and women falling through cracks in the social safety net and onto the streets across Snohomish County.
Elected officials, law enforcement and providers of social services are collectively looking for ways to better address the needs of people living with mental illness and addiction who often end up in the criminal justice system or homeless.
There’s steady pressure from neighborhoods and business owners to do something because of crime and public safety hazards.
Pilot programs are under way to intercept people before they reach the criminal justice system and the county and cities should get an idea this year if any of these new approaches are working.
Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary has said that the state needs to step up to fund mental health services and drug treatment. Jails aren’t designed to adequately care for the mentally ill or people with severe health problems because of addiction.
On this front, the state is facing significant challenges of its own.
It is struggling to comply with a state law and federal mandate requiring Western State Hospital to cut down on long wait times for evaluating the competency of mentally ill inmates languishing in county jails.
A Snohomish County judge has ordered hospital officials and their lawyer, a state assistant attorney general, to submit a plan detailing how they are going to add more beds and provide treatment for patients who are unable to assist with their own defense.
In the meantime, Western, the state’s largest psychiatric hospital, is under threat of losing federal funding because of safety concerns inside the facility.
Gov. Jay Inslee is asking state lawmakers to approve the spending of millions of additional dollars on hiring nurses, providing pay raises and bonuses to keep psychiatrists from quitting, improving facility security and adding treatment beds throughout the state.
Even if lawmakers agree to the governor’s request, it will take weeks if not months to recruit and hire needed personnel and make the necessary changes at the facility.
There are signs of progress, nonetheless.
A second detox facility is expected to open in Snohomish County this year. It will help but not alleviate the shortage of detox beds.
And the county, with the aid of state funds, intends to renovate the old Carnegie Building to create a center with transitional housing and social services.
In the city of Everett, this will be the year when its efforts to tackle the needs of its homeless move from preliminary stages into a full-bore charge.
The Community Streets Initiative launched by Mayor Ray Stephanson identified 63 actions that if implemented could help the chronic homeless and those with addiction and mental health problems while also curbing petty crime on the city’s streets.
The resulting Safe Streets Plan has led to more social workers riding along with police as they patrol the streets and nonprofit agencies are better coordinating efforts to help homeless people. The city will spend $2.2 million to create a dedicated unit within the police department composed of officers, a prosecutor and two social workers.
Also this year, the city will begin restricting the sale of some cheap and high-alcohol-content beverages in targeted areas of the city.
In November, the mayor brought in Lloyd Pendleton, the architect of Utah’s successful program to house the homeless, as a consultant. Pendleton’s visit had an effect because Stephanson is convinced Utah’s “housing first” model — dealing with homelessness first before tackling related issues — is one Everett and Snohomish County should adopt.
The mayor has vowed to find five units of housing in the first two months of 2016 and another 15 by mid-year. The county has offered $1 million to the city to help in its effort to acquire or build affordable housing.
Civic leaders understand reducing homelessness in Everett and across the county will require a long-term investment of time and money. For them, 2016 will be an important year to figure out which approaches pay the best dividends.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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