County officials outline behavioral-health contract updates and rural mobile crisis funding

Spokane County officials on June 23 briefed the Board of County Commissioners on contract amendments and new federal funding intended to expand behavioral-health services in rural communities.

Mr. Thompson, the county director overseeing behavioral-health contracting, said existing service scopes will continue under state contracts and that annual funding for some developmental-disability programs is expected to increase from about $12 million to roughly $13 million once final agreements are in place. He told commissioners the state agreed to raise the county's maximum reserve amount after the county repaid clawback funds, a change Mr. Thompson said gives local programs a larger buffer amid economic uncertainty.

"We were capped at a maximum reserve amount ' and the state identified almost an 80% increase in our maximum reserve amount," Mr. Thompson said, noting the change reduces the county's exposure for essential programs.

Assistant Director of Community Services Ashley McGee summarized a federal Rural Health Transformation award the state received and said one initiative will specifically expand mobile crisis supports. "Initiative number six relates to that behavioral health services," McGee said, adding that "6.1 is actually specific to expanding mobile crisis supports in our rural communities," and naming Ferry, Adams, Lincoln, Pend Oreille and Stevens counties as the locally targeted areas under federal rural definitions.

County staff also flagged specific funding shifts: a roughly $200,000 increase to the county's CJTA allocation to support services outside carceral settings and about $300,000 in additional support for new stabilization facilities (Pioneer and a facility in New Alliance) to help with startup and non-Medicaid costs. Mr. Thompson said the recovery navigator program sustained nearly 25% cuts at the state level but the county has been able to avoid immediate service reductions by adjusting internal funding.

The briefing noted unknowns: federal and state distributions could change year to year, the timing of Rural Health Transformation awards will follow the federal fiscal cycle (staff said planning and implementation work is expected through October), and changes to managed-care (MCO) contracts may be required as crisis services scale up.

County staff said they will return to the board with more contract details and any required amendments in coming weeks; no votes or formal board actions on contracts were recorded at the briefing.