Here’s how Pierce County will spend money from its long-awaited behavioral health tax

Josephine Peterson
·3 min read

After passing a one-tenth of 1 percent tax behavioral health tax following years of debate, Pierce County Council has its first plan for spending the money.

In its biennial budget approved Tuesday night, Pierce County rolled out its two-year spending plan for the new behavioral health sales tax collections. The one-tenth of 1 percent, or a penny tax on every ten dollars, is estimated to collect around $14 million a year for the county.

Most of the funds will head to mental health and behavioral health providers through contracts for programs, according to the budget.

Last December, the council unanimously passed the new tax to add support services and resources to behavioral health and mental health organizations. The legislation also created a new advisory board to oversee the monies. The tax began to be collected last July.

This two-year proposal allocates $28 million:

  • $20,880,000 will be released through a competitive bidding process for programs to expand existing wellness, prevention and early intervention programs; to support new approaches to wellness and prevention that include interventions at earlier ages; and to support at-risk parents and those caring for children with complex behavioral and developmental needs.

  • $2,275,000 for currently funded programs until June 30, 2022, including school-based services; the youth prevention program Wraparound with Intensive Services (WISe); co-responders program; assisted outpatient treatment; and veterans counseling.

  • $1,655,000 to develop and deploy a rapid response/alternative response team for those in crisis.

  • $1,305,000 for 5 full-time positions to staff a new district court therapeutic mental health court.

  • $1,885,000 for 9 full-time positions and related administrative costs in Human Services, Assigned Counsel, Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and Clerk of the Superior Court.

The plan also included a framework for the next six years, including finalizing contracts for programs and frequent audits.

Six hundred and fifty thousand dollars of the $175 million federal COVID-19 dollars allocated to Pierce County in the American Rescue Plan Act have been designated to help the therapeutic courts address the behavioral and mental health needs.

Council Chairman Derek Young (D-Gig Harbor) said he was adamant to see a large allocation of the collected tax sent to therapeutic courts.

“I think the therapeutic courts are the best way of getting [help for] people with mental health and substance use challenges. Very often this population doesn’t have a lot of insight into their own struggles,” Young said. “They’re really in a crisis. So oftentimes, the courts are our best way to get them access to treatment.”

Health statistics collected from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department and Washington Department of Health depict a higher gap for mental and behavioral services in the county than in the state.

From 2015 to 2019, the rate of drug overdose deaths in Pierce County was 17.2 per 100,000 people, higher than the state average of 15.3.

In 2019, the state said Pierce County had a suicide rate of 20.1 per 100,000 people, while the state average was 16.4.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry recommends that a county have 47 child and adolescent psychiatrists per 100,000 to meet community mental health needs. In 2018, Pierce County had 6.5 child and adolescent psychiatrists per 100,000, while Washington state had 10.

“We need to make some significant investments to help people in crisis and add more proactive outreach,” Young said.