Sultan Block Watch addresses mental health, crisis resources

Mental illness, drug addiction, car prowls and other drug-related property crimes are issues that have affected numerous Sultan residents and first responders, which is why the Sultan Block Watch organization is being infused with new energy.

Newly restructured with Sultan resident Shaun Carr at the helm, the Sultan and Sky Valley Community Block Watch Network held its first meeting on Monday, Nov. 30, at the Volunteers of America (VOA) A-frame in Sultan. VOA Director Calei Vaughn agreed to host the monthly meetings, so the group would have a permanent home. Vaughn heads up the Sultan Community Alliance, a parallel organization also focused on addressing issues related to homelessness and drug addiction in the city of Sultan.

Attendees included Sultan Mayor Carolyn Eslick, Sultan City Councilmember-elect Russell Wiita, Snohomish County Fire District No. 5 Chief Merlin Halverson and several Sultan-area residents.

Vaughn and Carr asked VOA Senior Director of Behavioral Health Pat Morris to be the guest speaker and provide attendees with an overview of what services are available for the mentally ill in Snohomish County. Morris, who oversees the regional Care Crisis Line and chat program, has worked in human services for 37 years.

Morris provided information on several resources currently available, including the 24-hour Care Crisis Line, Snohomish County's new embedded social worker program and 2-1-1, the VOA's resource hotline. Meant to address nonemergency behavioral health needs, the 2-1-1 resource line can connect a caller to services that include food, shelter, support groups, rent assistance and job training.-á -á

The North Sound 2-1-1 call center is located at the VOA in Everett, just across the hall from the Care Crisis Line call center. It's the only 2-1-1 call center in the state that operates 24/7, Morris said. Closing the resource line down at 5 p.m. never made sense to her, she added.

"I took over the 2-1-1 line two years ago, and part of my initiative and my business plan was, "Let's figure out how to get funding to be able to provide information and resources to people whether it's 10 at night or 10 in the morning,' GÇ¥ Morris said.

The Care Crisis Line can be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is available to anyone experiencing hardship, crisis or trauma. They also have the capacity to provide assistance through online chat, which is a mechanism of support that has become extremely popular. Care Crisis chat specialists are receiving thousands of chats, Morris said, and they have recently received grant funding from the city of Marysville to support the program.

"The city of Marysville just included us in a grant with the Office of Violent Crimes, and we were able to receive $102,000 to support our chat line,GÇ¥ Morris said. "We're really excited about that collaboration.GÇ¥

Sixty percent of the chat line interactions are with individuals that identify as an adolescent or young adult, Morris said, and 75 percent of the online chat users identify as suicidal at the time of the chat.

Sultan residents have experienced mental illness within the community, which prompted discussion about options for first responders when dealing with an individual suffering from mental health issues. Halverson pointed out that taking a mentally ill person to the local emergency room is not an effective solution, a dilemma first responders face on a regular basis.

"I can tell you that from the standpoint of my business, our first responders are no better educated about mental illness today than they were 40 years ago when I started out,GÇ¥ Halverson said. "It's still a scary thing to them.GÇ¥

Morris talked about the Snohomish County Triage Center in Everett, which is operated by Compass Health. The facility serves adults only, and is available to anyone experiencing a mental health crisis. The triage has capacity for up to 16 individuals, and can be used as an alternative to an emergency room.

"The police can drop them off, they can have a mental health evaluation; they can get treatment. They have nursing staff, they have medical staff; it's a mental health facility and it's not an ED (emergency department),GÇ¥ Morris said. "It's kind of like an urgent care center for the mentally ill.GÇ¥

Another recent program implemented in Snohomish County is the embedded social worker program, which teamed up two social workers with law enforcement. Lauren Rainbow started working with the Everett Police Department and Jesse Calliham works with the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.

"Jesse and Lauren are doing amazing things,GÇ¥ Morris said. "They're going out to homeless encampments, they're talking to them, they're following up with them, they're getting them into services; they're getting them into treatment.GÇ¥-á -á

The concept of having a social worker ride along with law enforcement has proven to be successful, and has allowed officers to respond to individuals suffering from addiction and mental health-related issues in a different way than the typical arrest-jail-release scenario.-á -á

Morris provided information about a new program for first responders called "flex funds,GÇ¥ which can be used after hours to support individuals in crisis. Funded through Snohomish County, the flex fund program provides vouchers that enable a person in crisis to receive a cab ride, a night's lodging, a hot meal or items like diapers. Flex funds can only be accessed by first responders through the 2-1-1 service line, and there is specific eligibility criteria that must be met.

The vouchers are obtained through local organizations that serve as agency vendors.

"We have been building that vendor system in the Everett area and we're starting to now branch out,GÇ¥ Morris said. "We're working on getting vendors in the Sky Valley area and we're also working with Marysville to get some vendors.GÇ¥

Current Everett-area vendors include Denny's, QFC and Fred Meyer.

Eslick said she will be lobbying for increased access to mental health resources in Olympia next year, and asked Morris for advice on where to start. It all comes down to housing, Morris said. There is significant need for supportive therapeutic housing where individuals can receive counseling, life-skills instruction and other forms of mental health treatment.-á

Individuals in need of services can call 2-1-1 anytime to receive assistance. When calling from an out-of-area cellphone, callers seeking services in the North Sound service area should dial 1-800-223-8145, as 2-1-1 services are location-based and will be automatically routed based on the area code of the caller. The 24-hour Care Crisis Line is 1-800-584-3578. To receive crisis care via online chat, visit http://carecrisischat.org/.