 Today King County Executive Dow Constantine delivered his 2024 State of the County address. He highlighted progress made in the past year and the continued work ahead, including action against gun violence, implementation of the Crisis Care Centers initiative, a county-wide response to the climate crisis, and investments in arts, heritage, and science organizations.
Gun Violence Prevention
"Last week three King County high school students were shot and killed. Cristopher Medina Zelaya was shot across the street from Kent-Meridian High School. Hazrat Ali Rohani was killed outside a sporting goods store in Renton. Amarr Murphy-Paine, was shot on the campus of Seattle’s Garfield High School. Each of these students was a family’s beloved child, a community’s hope for the future. Each of these deaths is an unthinkable tragedy, on the heels of so many tragedies...There is no quick fix in a nation awash in guns. But if this approach, which seems to be working elsewhere, can save even one life, we have to do it."
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100 days of action against gun violence: Executive Constantine proposed launching 100 Days of Action, an initiative this summer and fall to intensify and align King County's work with cities, community partners, the Regional Peacekeepers Collective, the Sheriff’s Gun Violence Reduction Unit, and others.
Behavioral Health
“We all know that these issues are complex. There is no simple solution. That is why we are thoughtfully charting a path forward to deliver behavioral health care for everyone who needs it.”
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Expanding 24/7 mobile crisis teams: King County now has 20 teams, including three for youth, who are traveling across the county to help people in crisis, with another 12 teams being added later this year.
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Restoring residential treatment beds: King County is investing $15 million to restore the number of community residential beds in treatment facilities.
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Tackling the opioid crisis: Public Health, DCHS, and UW Medicine opened a new 24/7 hotline that provides prescriptions to treat opioid use disorder, and more than 38,000 naloxone kits and almost 30,000 test strips were distributed in the first quarter of this year.
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