Redmond to integrate county-funded Sound Behavioral Health mobile response into Thrive program

Redmond city staff told the Public Safety and Human Services Committee on June 17 that Sound Behavioral Health's county-funded mobile response team will be incorporated into the city's Thrive alternative crisis-response program while the city evaluates the arrangement.

Chief Darryl Low, presenting the update, said Sound Behavioral Health is based in the Together Center building in Redmond and that the team includes "a licensed mental health professional, a social worker, a crisis responder, and a certified peer counselor." He added the unit operates "24 hours a day, 7 days a week" and has an "average response time of 15 minutes." Low said the program is funded through the King County Behavioral Health Levy and, as currently structured, "comes at no cost to Redmond residents or to our general fund."

The committee was told how the city's dispatchers will screen incoming calls using existing mobile-response criteria and transfer qualifying calls to the 988 center; 988 will then dispatch the mobile response team. Low said the council-funded positions the city had planned to create would not have matched the county team's 24/7 capability, and staff's recommendation is to move forward with implementing the county team into Thrive while the city evaluates the results.

Why this matters: If the integration reduces police responses to behavioral-health calls, it could change how the city allocates public-safety staff and the locally funded co-response positions. Committee members pressed staff for measurement and community perspective to ensure the program benefits users and first responders.

Details and council concerns

Low said dispatchers will transfer qualifying calls to the 988 center, which will dispatch the county team; if a community member dials 988 directly the city may not be notified of that dispatch. Low also said the county team assigned to the Eastside has about 40 personnel and is one of multiple teams across King County. He said the county team has been used "a handful of times" in Redmond and that "the interaction between this group and the police department has been phenomenal." He described operational handoffs where officers can clear the scene after the mobile team arrives.

Council vice president Forsyth asked whether the arrangement is effectively a pilot. Forsyth: "So how this almost reads as though it's a pilot program because we don't quite know how it's gonna mesh yet. Is that true, or how long is this around?" Low replied the mobile response team is funded through the county levy "conceivably for the next seven years" and that over "nine months to a year" the city should better understand the interface.

Several council members requested deliberate evaluation plans emphasizing user experience and safety. Council member Fields urged that evaluators be deliberate about which metrics are collected: "I have a theory about measurement, that you will always find what you're looking for. So you got to be very conscious and deliberative about what you're looking for." Council member Stewart asked that staff track whether the new service reduces police call volume and stress on the department.

Staff follow-up and next steps

Low said staff will include the county team's activity in the police quarterly reports and will also report it in Thrive's existing updates so the council will have "two touch points" on integration and outcomes. He said technical work is under way to get the county team's responses into the city's data dashboard; if automated reporting cannot be implemented immediately, staff will track the data manually. Staff also agreed to organize a meet-and-greet for council with the county team.

Budget and local hires

Committee members noted the council previously set aside local funding and a temporary utility-tax measure to hire city co-response staff. Several members said the council should revisit that local funding if the county team provides ongoing, full-time coverage. Low said the city is continuing its hiring process for a licensed mental-health professional (MHP) to serve as a core co-responder; he said he still hopes to add an additional MHP later but is focused on completing the current hire.

No formal action was taken; the item was presented as information and staff were directed to return with data in their regular Thrive and police quarterly reports and to arrange council briefings with the county team.