RPC approves 2023 MID behavioral-health annual summary highlighting reduced crisis use among participants
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The Regional Policy Committee approved the 2023 summary report for the behavioral-health sales tax (MID) during its Jan. 8 meeting.
Sam Porter of council central staff introduced the item and presenters from the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) reviewed results and program activity. Susan McLaughlin, director of DCHS's Behavioral Health and Recovery Division, and Robin Fomen, MID coordinator, presented highlights from the 2023 summary and data dashboard.
The presenters reported that MID funded 73 providers through more than 300 contracts and served over 24,000 people in 2023. For initiatives where jail bookings, emergency department visits and inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations are tracked, the report shows reductions in those high-acuity services three years after people initiate MID-supported services: psychiatric hospital admissions down 27 percent, emergency department admissions down 30 percent and jail bookings down 61 percent. Among adults who engaged in MID-supported services, 67 percent had fewer recorded crisis events over the observation period; for youth, 89 percent had no new juvenile legal system charges after enrolling in MID services.
DCHS described investments in workforce development, grants to support providers of color and community-based partnerships. The report also emphasized MID's response to the fentanyl overdose crisis, increased distribution of naloxone and school-based opioid prevention efforts. A council-directed, grant-based art-therapy pilot was awarded to Unified Outreach; the pilot served 62 participants aged 11–19 and reported high rates of participants identifying as people of color.
The report notes MID-funded activities reached people in ZIP codes with higher levels of poverty and that MID spent about 80 percent of its 2023 budgeted funding. Presenters reminded the committee that the current MID sales tax authorization expires at the end of 2025 and that county staff and the executive are preparing a renewal package and conducting community engagement.
The committee moved to approve the proposed motion accepting the 2023 MID annual report (Proposed Motion 2024-0243); the clerk recorded the vote as 12 ayes, no nos and no excused votes. The motion carries a "do pass" recommendation to the council's Health and Human Services Committee.
Sam Porter of council central staff introduced the item and presenters from the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) reviewed results and program activity. Susan McLaughlin, director of DCHS's Behavioral Health and Recovery Division, and Robin Fomen, MID coordinator, presented highlights from the 2023 summary and data dashboard.
The presenters reported that MID funded 73 providers through more than 300 contracts and served over 24,000 people in 2023. For initiatives where jail bookings, emergency department visits and inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations are tracked, the report shows reductions in those high-acuity services three years after people initiate MID-supported services: psychiatric hospital admissions down 27 percent, emergency department admissions down 30 percent and jail bookings down 61 percent. Among adults who engaged in MID-supported services, 67 percent had fewer recorded crisis events over the observation period; for youth, 89 percent had no new juvenile legal system charges after enrolling in MID services.
DCHS described investments in workforce development, grants to support providers of color and community-based partnerships. The report also emphasized MID's response to the fentanyl overdose crisis, increased distribution of naloxone and school-based opioid prevention efforts. A council-directed, grant-based art-therapy pilot was awarded to Unified Outreach; the pilot served 62 participants aged 11–19 and reported high rates of participants identifying as people of color.
The report notes MID-funded activities reached people in ZIP codes with higher levels of poverty and that MID spent about 80 percent of its 2023 budgeted funding. Presenters reminded the committee that the current MID sales tax authorization expires at the end of 2025 and that county staff and the executive are preparing a renewal package and conducting community engagement.
The committee moved to approve the proposed motion accepting the 2023 MID annual report (Proposed Motion 2024-0243); the clerk recorded the vote as 12 ayes, no nos and no excused votes. The motion carries a "do pass" recommendation to the council's Health and Human Services Committee.
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