Three years and one operator ago, a crisis center for behavioral and mental health was allocated funds to open in Federal Way. The community of Federal Way now has another opportunity to receive those services.

As the Mirror reported in February, the original operator of the facility withdrew after completing some renovations of the proposed site, but since then, the site has sat empty and the project stalled.

Now Connections Health Solutions is submitting a proposal to King County to take over where Recovery Innovations International (RI) left off.

Opening and operating the crisis center would not cost the City of Federal Way anything and would be funded entirely through an April 2023 levy passed by voters to fund five crisis care centers throughout King County.

Connections Health Solutions staff presented to the Federal Way City Council on March 4 to ask for the city’s support. In order to become the operators of the facility, they will need to have their Request for Proposal (RFP) selected by King County, and in order to submit that application, they need a letter of support from the city before March 21.

Although the timeline is tight, the city will not give the organization an official response until the March 18 council meeting. Multiple city council members expressed support after hearing the presentation, and also held an in-depth discussion of the center during the meeting.

Mayor Jim Ferrell could have written a letter personally that would have met the organization’s need in their application, but said he chose to make sure the council and the public had the opportunity to share their thoughts because “we don’t want to surprise people.”

Over the next two weeks, he and the council “want to hear from people,” especially because it is a King County facility and “we know there have been issues surrounding people in crisis,” Ferrell said.

The crisis center itself would provide multiple levels of care including a behavioral health urgent care clinic open 24/7 for walk-ins and for first responder drop-offs, a 23-hour observation unit and a crisis stabilization unit.

In the presentation to the council, Growth Manager Mackenzie Barta, Medical Director Kyle Jasper and public affairs consultant Michael Transue answered council questions about the center.

Council members brought up recent challenges with safety, security and litter at the Federal Way Day Center run by Catholic Community Services — issues that have left them and community members wary of accepting social services within the city.

Barta and Jasper explained to the council and the public that the staff of the Connections Health Services would handle their own security inside and outside of the building, and that they have a 24/7 security officer at the front desk.

Upon entering the crisis center, all individuals would be searched, any illegal substances would be confiscated, and firearms would be turned over to police.

Because staff are all highly trained for de-escalation and response to escalated individuals, they are well equipped to meet any challenges that come up anywhere on their property. The facility would also be open and staffed 24/7, which is in contrast to the Day Center, which is only open between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, the Connections staff explained.

Councilmember Jack Dovey said: “I don’t view this as a homeless center like the Day Center. This is a crisis center that any anybody from any walk of life is going to need and would use. I think it’d be a great asset to have in our community.”

Another concern brought up by the council was the regional aspect of the center. If selected by the county as one of the five regional crisis centers, this location could be designated as the crisis center to serve the South King County region.

Representatives from Connections Health Services responded to this concern by sharing that one of the many ways the crisis center would differ from other emergency services is that they don’t discharge to the street.

Each individual is assessed, and a unique care plan is established for follow-up before they leave the facility, including a plan for transportation. If an individual is transported or self-refers from a neighboring city, they would have transportation provided back there as part of that care plan.

Councilmembers asked if individuals can just walk out after being dropped off by police if they so choose ,and while that could be possibility, Jasper explained that is not usually how it works.

If necessary, Connections Health Services can hold individuals for up to 23 hours, or in certain circumstances, petition for up to 72 hours.

Patients there also receive close attention and high level care that make it so “no one really just wants to pick up and leave and run out the door,” Jasper explained.

“Before I was a medical director here, I was an emergency room psychiatrist in Salt Lake City, Utah, in a downtown urban hospital,” Jasper said. “There were so many patients that were just left in gurneys and in the emergency room and just ignored for 12 to 14 hours at a time. That doesn’t happen here. There’s such a high staff to patient ratio…even if they’re having the worst day of their life, which very often is the case in a crisis center, we can really try to get what their needs are.”

For those with questions about exactly how the center would function, Connections Health Solutions staff urged people to look to their Kirkland location. King 5 interviewed Redmond Police Chief Darrell Lowe on how it is going in February, and heard positive feedback.

Lowe shared in that interview that before the crisis center opened, the emergency room was their only option and that officers could be stuck there for hours. With the opening of the crisis center, they can now drop off people and transfer custody in a few minutes and get back to their other work much faster.