Whatcom County work group backs off‑site behavioral care center as alternative to incarceration

The Incarceration, Prevention, and Reduction Task Force’s Behavioral Care Center (BCC) work group recommended adoption of an integrated, off‑site behavioral care center model and asked that the task force and the county’s Facilities and Finance Advisory Board advance the plan to the County Council for inclusion in justice‑project planning and cost analysis. The recommendation was read aloud at the task force meeting on Sept. 22, 2025 by co‑chair Peter Frazier.

Why it matters: the work group framed the center as an inpatient, community‑based alternative designed to increase prosecutorial diversion options for people whose offenses are driven by behavioral health needs. Proponents said an off‑site model would allow people to accept longer treatment stays, make the center eligible for Medicaid and other insurance, and integrate more easily with existing community crisis services. Work group members warned, however, that capital and operating funding and legal coordination remain major hurdles.

Hannah Fisk, the health‑department staffer who led the presentation, described the three linked pieces of the county’s justice implementation plan: behavioral health inside the jail, a separate behavioral care center, and a 23‑hour crisis center. “This is an update just kind of on our justice implementation, and new jail build from the lens of behavioral health,” Fisk said during…