crisis solutions center
Crisis Solutions Center is hiring! Open positions here
Neighborhood advisory committee and good neighbor agreement here
Frequently Asked Questions here
General information sheet here
View photos from the Opening Celebration here
Overview
Previously, when police and medics were called to intervene when someone was experiencing a behavioral healthcare crisis in the community, the only options they had were to take the person to jail, a hospital emergency department or to do nothing. DESC's Crisis Solutions Center (CSC) provides a more appropriate therapeutic option.
A team of mental health and chemical dependency professionals will help stabilize the current crisis in a voluntary inpatient setting. They will also immediately work to refer participants to long-term assistance and housing, tailored to each person’s needs. As a result, the CSC will reduce overall admissions to jails, hospital emergency departments and psychiatric hospital inpatient units.
The Crisis Solutions Center launched its operations on August 6, 2012. CSC has three components: the Crisis Diversion Facility (CDF), the Crisis Diversion Interim Services (CDIS), and the Mobile Crisis Team (MCT).
Background
The CSC is a central strategy in King County's Mental Illness and Drug Dependency Action Plan, and is funded through a dedicated local sales tax.
It was originally slated to open in mid-2011, but was halted when a lawsuit was filed by immediate neighbors attempting to stop the program from being sited in their neighborhood. King County Superior Court rejected opponents' claims, and ruled in favor of the CSC in early 2012.
Based on projections done by King County, the delay in opening has cost taxpayers about $20,000, or a total of $7.2 million, through continued use of expensive crisis systems use.
Despite the lawsuit, DESC launched the Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) as a pilot project in fall 2011. The MCT accepts referral from first responders for any individual who appears to be in a mental health and/or chemical dependency crisis. The pilot phase of MCT offers limited services around King County.
In early August 2012, the development of the facility was completed and DESC launched the opening of the Crisis Solutions Center. All three components of the program are fully operational beginning August 6, 2012.
Related Media
Crisis Solutions Center another option for offenders with mental health issues - Renton Reporter.com (September 19, 2012)
Crisis Diversion Facility Now Open in Seattle - Spotlight, The official newsletter of NAMI Greater Seattle (September-October 2012)
DESC Crisis Solutions Center now open in Jackson Place - Central District News (August 13, 2012)
The Crisis Solutions Center - a much better alternative to jail or ER - Seattle City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw news blog (August 6, 2012)
Crisis Solutions Center: Innovative Facility Diverts Mentally Ill and Drug Dependent from Jails and Hospital Emergency Rooms - King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office News (August 2, 2012)
Following a Year of Opposition , Neighborhood Mental Health Center Will Open This Friday - The Stranger (August 1, 2012)
Chinatown ID crisis center an alternative to jail or ER - The Seattle Times (August 1, 2012)
New Mental Health Crisis Facility to Serve King County - KUOW News (August 1, 2012)
Judge rules in DESC's favor on crisis diversion site - Crosscut (January 31, 2012)
Seattle police: what they're doing right with troubled people - Crosscut (January 12, 2012)
Judge Dismisses NIMBY Lawsuit, allows for Neighborhood Mental Health Center - The Stranger (January 10, 2012)
Seattle process: Neighbors diverge on a diversion facility - Crosscut (December 14, 2011)
Mobile Crisis Team to ease conflicts between police, mentally ill - Real Change News (October 12, 2011)
Seattle's New Batmobile - The Stranger (September 22, 2011)
Community's Disapproval of New Crisis Solutions Center - The North American Post (June 8, 2011)
City Issues Permit for Controversial Mental Health Center in Jackson Place - The Stranger (April 7, 2011)
Fear Factor - Real Change News (February 9, 2011)
Alternative for mentally ill in crisis stirs debate - KPLU News (February 4, 2011)
What Are Jackson Place Residents Running From? - The Stranger (February 1, 2011)
Opponents of Jackson Place DESC facility dominate forum - Central District News (February 1, 2011)
Jackson Place group challenges legality of planned DESC facility - Central District News (January 28, 2011)
Group challenges plans for crisis center near Chinatown International District - Seattle Times (January 25, 2011) This article contains an error, stating that the facility will be on "24-hour lockdown". In fact, it is a voluntarily mental health treatment facility with no "lockdown" aspect to it. As outlined in our Neighborhood Safeguards, the program will include several security measures, in both the design of the building and program operations, so that participants do not roam unaccompanied into the neighborhood. However, this will not be an involuntary or locked facility.
New Emergency Program Reaches Jackson Place Neighborhood - The North American Post [Japanese American Community News], (November 17, 2010)
Help for consumers in crisis: New programs provide alternatives to hospital, jail - The Voice Newsletter of NAMI Washington (Fall 2010)
Officials urge residents not to fight planned Crisis Solutions Center - Central District News Blog (November 10, 2010)
Homeless Crisis Center Planned in Jackson Place - Central District News Blog (October 29, 2010)
Seattle Downtown Emergency Service Center adding staff for crisis center - Puget Sound Business Journal (July 30, 2010)