2015 Legislative Agenda
Budget Talking Points
NAMI Washington supports the Governor’s proposed budget and new revenues and asks that
the Legislature fully fund the entire mental health system.

The mental health system has been chronically underfunded and when financial hard
times hit the already bare bones system was slashed even farther.

Washington has been ranked 48th in the Nation in access to mental healthcare by Mental
Health America in its 2015 report.

Our suicide rate is 15% above the national average.

Washington’s mental health system is a fragmented, crisis-driven system. Because it is
difficult for people with mental illnesses to get the care they need in a timely fashion, the
system must rely on the most costly interventions—inpatient hospitalizations—but is 47th
in the nation in the number of inpatient beds per capita.

Mental health policy in our State is being made by the courts because we have not
stepped up to adequately fund the mental health system. The State is now under court
orders that directly require additional inpatient psychiatric beds to alleviate boarding and
shorten wait times for competency restoration.

These issues now being dictated by the courts address problems with crisis-level
services that absolutely must be addressed for legal as well as moral reasons.

However, studies show that earlier intervention can result in mental health crises of
lesser severity and shorter duration from which more surely successful recovery is
possible. That can translate to greater use of less costly services and less use of more
costly services. As our grandmothers used to say, “A stitch in time saves nine.”

Unless we also invest in prevention and early intervention and other pre-crisis services,
our mental health system will continue to be crisis-driven and thus, less effective and
more costly.

In other words, we need to invest in the entire system, top to bottom. This is a question
of legal, moral, ethical, and fiscal imperatives.

Not properly funding the mental health system will not make the problems go away. The
money is already being spent in the criminal justice system, the emergency rooms, the
social services system, and the morgues.
7500 Greenwood Avenue North ▪ Seattle, WA 98103 ▪ 206.783.4288 ▪ www.namiwa.org
Budget Specifics

Single Bed Certification – We support the $37.4 million to increase bed capacity in the
community but question whether this will be sufficient to fully meet the need in light of
the Department’s new emergency SBC certification rules.

Competency Restoration Wards – We support the $8.8 million to open an additional 30
bed forensic ward at Western State Hospital and add five additional beds and three
clinical staff at Eastern State Hospital to address the increasing demand for inpatient
court ordered competency restoration and forensic services for patients found not guilty
by reason of insanity, but again question the adequacy of the amount, given the
Department’s ill-advised attempt to allow competency restoration in the jails.

Civil Ward at Western State Hospital – We support the $7.6 million for a new 30-bed civil
admission ward at Western State Hospital which will increase the availability of inpatient
services.

Competency Evaluation Staff – We support the $828,000 to comply with the JLARC 2014
report for improving the hospitals’ ability to keep up with demand for competency
evaluations.

Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit at Western State Hospital – We support the $3.8 million
for a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Western State Hospital to serve violence
and assaultive patients at Western and Eastern State Hospitals.

Psychiatric Emergency Response Team – We support the $3.5 million to expand the
Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) to increase safety at the state hospitals.

Crisis Intervention Training Study – We support the $240,000 allocation for the
Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission to study Crisis Intervention and
urge that all efforts to put that training into the Academy be encouraged in every way.
NAMI Washington opposes any cuts made to any areas of the mental
health system

NAMI does not support the $10.4 million cut to the Western Regional Support Networks
which houses seriously and persistently mentally ill consumers who are not eligible for
other funding to secure safe housing. If this occurs, the Behavioral and Service
Integration Administration will expect to see increases in the number of individuals with
complex mental health issues experiencing homelessness and needing crisis services and
hospitalizations.

NAMI does not support the $922,000 cut for program and administration oversight of
HB1114 addressing violent, legally incompetent and mentally ill individuals released to
the community where they could potentially commit further acts of violence due to the
offender’s mental health condition and/or developmental disability.
7500 Greenwood Avenue North ▪ Seattle, WA 98103 ▪ 206.783.4288 ▪ www.namiwa.org