County allots $1M for mental health services - Port Townsend Leader

Jefferson County commissioners approved a two-year allocation of nearly $1.3 million for mental health and substance abuse services at their regular business meeting Jan. 28.

The Hargrove Fund is raised by the county from 0.1 percent of its sales and use tax. The fund was authorized by former state Sen. Jim Hargrove for mental health and substance abuse disorder treatment programs along with therapeutic court systems.

Commissioners approved $640,882 annually to fund mental health and substance abuse prevention services for 2019 and 2020.

“We were the first county in the state to create an ordinance (for the Hargrove Fund), that was signed Oct. 3, 2005,” said Anna McEnery, who is the county coordinator of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Advisory Committee.

“The priority funding areas are prevention in schools and at home for children coping with mental health and substance abuse issues,” McEnery said. “We also want to reduce the incidence and severity of substance-use disorders while improving health and well-being. We do that through therapeutic courts and hopefully diverting adults with those issues from emergency rooms and contact with the criminal justice system.”

To decide which agencies and projects to fund, the county’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Advisory Committee reviews requests made by community agencies such as Jumping Mouse, Dove House Advocacy Services and Discovery Behavioral Health.

“We started with a request for proposal that went out to the community,” McEnery said. “After about six weeks, three members of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Advisory committee met for about 12 hours. We interviewed every person and agency who made a request.”

The requests totaled about $240,000 more than the budget allowed for each year, so the committee could not fund every request.

This year’s allocations included several new projects, including Jumping Mouse’s Brinnon Pilot Project, which brings mental health therapy to students in the Brinnon School District. It is the first time Jumping Mouse is offering its therapy model on a school campus, according to its December newsletter. Jumping Mouse received $34,145 for this project for each year.

Another new project is the Dove House Advocacy Services’ Recovery Cafe, which will support healing for those recovering from substance abuse issues. It will receive $45,000 in each of the two years.

The Hargrove Fund  also will continue to fund the county’s therapeutic court system, which includes a drug court, a mental health court and a family therapeutic court. The purpose is to reduce the need for incarceration by offering an alternative to jail and probation through participation in assessment, education and treatment for nonviolent, drug-addicted defendants.

The therapeutic courts will receive $98,751 from the Hargrove Fund for each of the two years.

Fifteen programs were funded for 2019 and 2020. All three county commissioners voted in favor of the recommended allocations and directed the public health department to negotiate contracts for the applicants.

“There are several layers of accountability built into the contract,” said Philip Morley, the county administrator, who added each applicant to receive funding must give a full report on how they are using the money to public health each year.

Each year a county commissioner sits on the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee. Kathleen Kler previously sat on the committee. This year, newly elected Greg Brotherton will sit on the committee.

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