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Sept 2025

This newsletter will be arriving monthly through this phase of the Justice Project (construction of the new Jail and Behavioral Care Center). It is assembled by the County Executive's office and part of our ongoing commitment to prevention, restoration, and transparency.

Whatcom County Selects Design-Build Team for Justice Project

After a nationwide search and competitive procurement process, Whatcom County has entered into a contract with a joint venture between Clark Construction and RAM Construction, which will lead a team responsible for designing and building the County’s new jail and behavioral care center. The team also includes Nelson Worldwide Architects and RMC Architects, a Bellingham-based firm.

The County is using the progressive design-build model of construction, which allows the construction and architectural teams to work together with the County throughout the process to accelerate the timeframe and keep the project on budget. The submitted proposals were evaluated by operational experts from the Sheriff’s office, county facilities, health and community services, and the construction facilitation team.

“We are confident we have the right team for the job, and I am very pleased to see local industry leaders participating in the project,” said County Executive Satpal Sidhu. “Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves, and get to work.”

Clark Construction, as the general contractor overseeing the project, has experience with projects of similar scale, including the state’s new 350-bed forensic behavioral health hospital now under construction in Lakewood, Washington.

“Recognizing the ambitious schedule, budget goals, and aspirations for these new facilities, our team is ready to hit the ground running and assist the County in achieving its goals for this project,” said Eric Olson, Senior Vice President of Clark Construction.

RAM Construction is a local commercial and heavy civil general contractor. Celebrating 30 years in Whatcom County this year, they are responsible for projects such as Alderwood Elementary School, the new educational facility for the Community Transitions Program, and the iconic Fairhaven Clock Tower Building. “We are very proud to bring a local focus to this generational community project,” said Mike Hammes, CEO of RAM Construction.

Nelson Worldwide Architects has served as the lead designer for justice facilities across the country, including in Hawaii and South Dakota, as well as the Stevens County Justice Center here in Washington.

Local design firm RMC Architects has participated in a number of public facilities in Whatcom County, including the Millworks Phase II workforce housing facility and the recently opened Way Station, which utilizes trauma-informed design and serves as a critical link in the County’s behavioral care system.

For more information about progress on these facilities, ways to get involved, and to sign up for monthly updates, visit https://www.whatcomcounty.us/4666/Justice-Project

New Crisis Care Facility Begins to Take Shape

Whatcom County, in partnership with the City of Bellingham and PeaceHealth, hosted a series of workshops in August to develop concrete recommendations for a new 23-Hour Crisis Relief Center.

The new facility is outlined in the County’s Justice Project Implementation Plan and would:

• Provide immediate behavioral health crisis intervention and stabilization services. 
• Support law enforcement, EMS, and behavioral health providers.
• Serve as a critical diversion option for people in crisis — offering a safe and therapeutic alternative to jail or hospital settings.

While the majority of capital funding has been secured, operational funding streams have not yet been identified for the new facility.  

Subject matter experts from community health, law enforcement, first responders, front line workers and community partners gathered to develop concrete recommendations based on data, feasibility, and community feedback.

GRACE Program Spotlight

The Whatcom Ground-Level Response and Coordinated Engagement (GRACE) program is a community-based effort to find solutions for individuals who are high utilizers of emergency and criminal justice systems. The aim is to offer intensive, coordinated services to these “familiar faces” whose needs span beyond any single agency.

GRACE helps improve our current system. Intensive Case Managers support service providers in working with the complex needs of GRACE members. The GRACE Team works within fire departments, law enforcement agencies, and emergency medical services, making it simple to connect clients to care.

With support, GRACE members reduce reliance on emergency systems and gain access to effective care that helps build a more stable, independent life.

Attend the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force

Looking to deep dive into the Justice Project implementation? Attend the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force (IPRTF) meetings. The IPRTF meets monthly, in-person and over Zoom, to review Whatcom County’s criminal justice and behavioral health programs and make specific recommendations to safely and effectively reduce incarceration of individuals struggling with mental illness and chemical dependency and minimize jail utilization by pretrial defendants who can safely be released.  It is a great opportunity to see and be part of this work moving forward. The meeting schedule can be found here, the public is enthusiastically encouraged to attend.

Learning the Lingo: What does "Trauma-Informed Care" Mean?

One of the key principles of the Justice Project is the concept of trauma-informed care in the construction of the jail and the behavioral care center. So what does that mean? Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” It recognizes the widespread impact of trauma—such as abuse, neglect, violence, and other stressful or life-threatening events—on a person's life and behavior. A person's history of trauma may have contributed to the actions that involved them in the criminal legal system. The goal is to avoid unintentionally re-traumatizing people as they go through the system. Trauma-informed care is about shifting the focus from punishment alone to understanding and healing, which can help reduce repeat offenses and support recovery for everyone involved. In practice, this means building spaces and establishing policies that promote feelings of safety and collaboration between staff and clients. It also includes providing staff with training on how past events inform current trauma responses and ways to de-escalate and overcome those responses. More resources can be found here.

What Happens Next?

The Justice Project has many moving parts. To keep you updated, here's a few miscellaneous updates on Justice Project-related milestones. 

• The Justice Project Online Dashboard showing real-time progress on key metrics is being developed and populated, with the expectation that it will go live in September 2025. 
  
  
• With the Design-Builder on contract, staff is hammering out a detailed timeline for design and construction that sets us on the path to completion in 2028. 
  
  
• Geotechnical and archaeological surveying of the jail construction site is being contracted.
  
  
• Finance staff continue to monitor Sales Tax revenue to ensure that the County is collecting the resources necessary to meet our goals. The most recent financial report is the June 2025 data, provided to the Justice Project Finance and Facility Advisory Board and is available online here. 

For questions or more information, please send an email to Riley Sweeney at RSweeney@whatcomcounty.us