Kenmore highlights behavioral-health partnerships and $190,000 in human-services grants for 2025'26

Kenmore leaders used the State of the City address to summarize regional behavioral-health partnerships and to preview the city's human-services strategic planning and grant allocations for 2025'26.

Council member Valerie Sassen said the region now has a continuum of care that includes the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (answered for King County callers via regional providers), the Regional Crisis Response Agency (RACER) providing mobile crisis response across North King County, and Connections Health's 24/7 walk-in behavioral-health crisis center in Kirkland, which opened in August 2024. Sassen described RACER as a person-centered mobile crisis response that emphasizes de-escalation and resource referral.

On human services funding, the city said the 2024 human-services needs assessment guided priorities for the 2025'26 human-services grant program. Council members said the city will distribute $190,000 in grant funds across 20 agencies in the coming biennium, with the two largest recipients named as Northshore Senior Center and Hopelink and smaller grants going to volunteer transportation services and other providers. Staff said a time-limited human-services advisory committee will be formed to create a human-services strategic plan expected to be delivered to the council in 2025; in the interim, the council funded a resource-navigation and assistance program and staff plan to issue a request-for-proposals in the second quarter of 2025.

Sassen emphasized that the city is not a direct-service provider but rather funds and coordinates local human-services organizations. No new city-run direct-service programs were announced at the address.