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IPRTF members describe King County 'Link' diversion visit: respite housing, prosecutorial dismissal practices
Summary
Whatcom County task force members reported on a recent trip to King County's LINC/link diversion program. Visitors said the program uses short-term "respite" housing and that prosecutors generally dismiss diverted cases and rarely refile; local housing would be critical for a similar model in Whatcom County.
Members of Whatcom County's Implementation & Policy Reform Task Force described a recent site visit to King County's LINC (Link) diversion program and identified housing as a central requirement for any local adaptation.
Task force members who attended a tour said LINC operates a housing element with small, family-style homes and a limited number of respite beds. One attendee summarized the housing count as "I think one was seven, one might've been nine. So a total of maybe 15, 16 beds total." They said the beds provided a short-term place for program participants while exit plans were created.
Delegates reported the prosecutor's office supports the diversion philosophy and that, after diversion, prosecutors typically dismiss the original charges and "we have diverted it, and we are not gonna bring it back," according to a participant describing the municipal prosecutor's remarks. Visitors said the prosecutors receive reports from treatment agencies to inform future charging decisions but generally do not refile diverted cases.
Why it matters: Task force members emphasized that housing is "absolutely central and critical" to the Link model. Several attendees said King County's program uses braided funding, combining sources such as Trueblood allocations with other funds to operate the high-resource program.
Task force members asked for data on program scale and recidivism; attendees said turnover can be significant because stays are short and that more detailed recidivism data had not yet been shared with the group. A number discussed using future Trueblood funds and local housing assets to support a similar diversion pathway in Whatcom County; one member estimated a capacity number of about 70 in a related context but noted that for King County that was not large for its population.
Ending: The task force agreed more data and a debrief would follow; members said they will continue discussions about how a Link-style model could fit into local funding and housing constraints.
