Free community forum explores trends, challenges of mental healthcare in Kitsap County

The Kitsap County Council for Human Rights presents a community forum on mental health to address current trends, challenges with the sociobiological science of mental illness and its effects on individuals and families, as well as an overview of data and statistical trends of mental illness outcomes in Kitsap County. There will also be a look at the community work being done by local mental health advocates and first responders. The event takes place 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 9 at Olympic College Engineering Building Rotunda, 1600 Chester Avenue, Bremerton.

A panel discussion will include Charles Doyal, supervisor of the Kitsap Mental Health Services Crisis Response Team; Larry Brixius and Jeanette Rerecich Brixius of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Kitsap County; Casey Reed, transition manager for the Center of Excellence for Veteran Student Success at Olympic College; and Siri Kushner, assessment and epidemiology program manager with the Kitsap Public Health District.

Panelists will share perspectives from their fields related to mental health and illness, and discuss how disparities in people’s experiences and access to medical healthcare may factor in. The public will have the opportunity to talk with each other and panelists about what they learn, how it may relate to their own experiences, how to increase equity in mental healthcare and what local community resources are available.

The forum is free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome! The event is sponsored with the generous support of the Washington Academy of Family Physicians and the Multicultural and Student Programs Department of Olympic College.

For more information, contact Rebecca Pirtle in the Kitsap County Commissioners’ Office at (360) 337-4650, rpirtle@co.kitsap.wa.us or visit the Council for Human Rights website here.