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 Ribbons, ribbons, ribbons ? Gov. Jay Inslee has helped open several new behavioral health facilities of late, including UW?s Center for Behavioral Health and Learning (top-left), Olympic Heritage Behavioral Health in Tukwila (top-right), and new units at Maple Lane in Centralia (bottom-right)
It?s been a long road, but Washington is nearing compliance with the terms of the Trueblood settlement.
A 2015 federal court decision in Trueblood et al v. Washington State DSHS required the state to provide prompt competency evaluation and restoration services for defendants deemed by a court to be incompetent for trial. But the state was already in a mental health crisis; demand for care far exceeded available capacity and court referrals for competency restoration were soaring. As a result, defendants waited in jail and the state paid expensive fines as it struggled to comply.
Nine years later, wait times are now within the parameters of the court order. The wait time for admission to the state?s two primary psychiatric hospitals is less than seven days. It?s an important milestone, but there is more to be done to ensure this progress is durable.
Expanding capacity and reducing the demand for behavioral health services through the criminal justice system are elements of Gov. Jay Inslee?s broader behavioral health transformation plan. Since 2015, the state has also increased provider rates, added more behavioral health staff, created new diversion opportunities, and supported upstream resources such as crisis services that can prevent individuals with behavioral health needs entering the criminal justice system in the first place.
The state has moved mountains lately to expand capacity. It snap-purchased a shuttered hospital last year and reopened it as Olympic Heritage Behavioral Health, adding 72 new beds with another 40 scheduled to open in April 2025. Expansions at Maple Lane have opened 76 new beds. Expansions at Western State Hospital and Eastern State Hospital have opened 216 new beds. The Department of Commerce has awarded numerous behavioral health capital grants to grow community-based behavioral health capacity. Earlier this month, Inslee attended the ribbon-cutting for the new University of Washington Center for Behavioral Health and Learning, a teaching hospital that will treat up to 150 patients and train the next generation of behavioral health care professionals.
?This is again something we can be proud of: leading the nation with this historic achievement, having the first behavioral health teaching facility built from scratch,? said Inslee at the opening of the new teaching hospital. ?We?re bringing hope to people? And there is no greater monument to hope than this facility right now.?
By the end of this year, the state will have opened a total of around 600 beds since 2022. All that new capacity has helped the state keep pace with a doubling of court orders for competency services since 2015. Inslee also signed legislation last year that will moderate demand by creating new diversion programs, sending clinical intervention specialists into jails, and other interventions for Trueblood class members. Class members are those charged with a crime and incarcerated in a jail awaiting competency services by court order.
?We are proud of what the state has accomplished in reducing the waitlist. This is a breakthrough moment for our Trueblood patients waiting for much-needed behavioral health services,? said Tyler Hemstreet, spokesperson for the state?s Department of Social and Health Services. ?We?ve come a long way, but these gains are fragile. Demand for treatment and demand from the judicial system continue to rise. There will be plenty of work ahead for us in partnership with the Legislature, state agencies and stakeholders to meet extraordinary demand for competency services.?
Read more: ?Wait times decrease for WA mental health patients, but gains are ?fragile??
 Amtrak Cascades will start to operate two shiny new hybrid diesel-electric Siemens Chargers locomotives in 2026. Youth under 18 ride free within Washington thanks to a just-announced program, effective immediately. (Image courtesy of the Washington State Department of Transportation)
All aboard! Youth under 18 can now traverse Western Washington for free on Amtrak Cascades trains or buses.
Free youth transit ridership is expanding statewide thanks to the state?s Climate Commitment Act. Amtrak is the latest partner to jump aboard the initiative, and this free youth ridership program is the first of its kind across Amtrak?s national service. Washington State Ferries announced free ridership for youth in 2022, as did transit providers all across the state. In the first year of the statewide program, youth enjoyed 8.3 million free rides to help them get to school, work, family outings, and other activities.
Amtrak Cascades operates 12 stations up and down Western Washington from Vancouver up to Bellingham. Its full route extends from Eugene, Ore. up to Vancouver, B.C. The free youth ridership program only covers travel within the state, though passengers under 18 can still discount their out-of-state trip by using a free ticket for the in-state leg and purchasing a second ticket for the out-of-state leg. Amtrak?s release has more information.
Read more: Kids 18 and under can ride for free on Amtrak Cascades in WA
Federal-state grid improvement program will help deliver more clean electricity
The Biden Administration and 21 states, including Washington, announced a new Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative on Wednesday. The initiative focuses on upgrading and retrofitting existing transmission infrastructure, which can be done on a much faster timeline than building new transmission lines. Modern technologies can vastly expand throughput and more efficiently connect to new clean energy sources. New high-powered conductors can carry twice as much electricity as conventional wires, for example.
Washington state helped draft the initiative and has itself been proactive in modernizing its grid. Gov. Jay Inslee signed a law to reform power system planning last year, and championed the Clean Energy Transformation Act in 2019 to transition the state completely to clean electricity. Washington state?s electricity needs will double by 2050. Upgrading transmission infrastructure is vital to the state?s clean energy transition.
Washington State Patrol launches "90 Dangerous Days" campaign to reduce summer highway fatalities
The summer months are the deadliest for traffic fatalities in Washington state. On average, 65 Washingtonians have died monthly during June, July, and August since 2018. The Washington State Patrol and Washington Traffic Safety Commission have begun a statewide campaign to reduce high-risk driving called "Surviving Summer: 90 Dangerous Days."
"Any life lost is unacceptable," stated WSP Chief John R. Batiste. "Changing the trends we have observed over the past few years takes the effort of everyone in our community, including you as the driver."
Climate Commitment Act funding amps up local and Tribal electrification efforts
The Department of Commerce issued two exciting announcements this week made possible by the state?s Climate Commitment Act. The department awarded $7.5 million to five Tribal nations for clean energy generation projects such as solar farms, battery storage systems, and even clean hydrogen production capacity from ocean wave energy. Commerce also announced $40 million to 32 counties, municipalities, and utility districts to help thousands of Washingtonians install efficient electric appliances. This includes appliances like heat pumps and electric water heaters.
120-year-old trestle gets new life thanks to the Climate Commitment Act
King County Parks? Eastrail project has an ambitious goal to carve an uninterrupted 42-mile trail connecting Renton, Bellevue, Kirkland, Woodinville, Snohomish, and Redmond. The old Wilburton Trestle in Bellevue will be transformed into a critical link in the trail thanks to funding from the state?s Climate Commitment Act. King County Parks hosted a groundbreaking event on Friday to begin work on the bridge, its fifth reconstruction since its initial completion in 1904 by the Northern Pacific Railway.
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