State investments bring people inside from the Spokane cold

Gov. Jay Inslee visited Spokane on Monday to tour The Catalyst, a new housing facility that opened this week and will house more than 100 residents of the encampment known as Camp Hope.

The opening of Catalyst followed Washington State Department of Commerce’s announcement last week about funding for an additional six projects in Spokane that will provide a total of 376 shelter and housing beds available for efforts to close Camp Hope. Currently, there is not enough shelter and housing available in Spokane to accommodate the now 416 people at Camp Hope.

During the past two legislative sessions, legislators have approved historic new investments to expand supportive services to people experiencing homelessness and add nearly 4,000 new housing and shelter units across the state. This included first-time funding for rapid supportive housing. The Legislature also included funding for a new Right of Way Safety Initiative to help transition people who are living in unsafe encampments along state highways. State agencies are working with local and non-profit partners in Spokane, Snohomish, King, Thurston and Pierce counties.

People can sign up for updates about the state’s efforts to close Camp Hope: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WADOT/subscriber/new?topic_id=WADOT_706.

Students of horticulture program at Washington Corrections Center for Women spread holiday cheer, decorate governor’s mansion

Women from Washington Corrections Center for Women helped Gov. Jay Inslee and first spouse Trudi Inslee decorate the governor’s mansion for the holiday season. The group hung wreathes, strung boughs, and set up stockings with the Inslees and corrections officers from the state Department of Corrections.

Horticulture instructors and students from Tacoma Community College participated as well.

The occasion is a tradition for the WCCW, and a way to spread holiday cheer while supporting their mission to positively transforming the lives of incarcerated men and women.

Inslee tours site of new behavioral health teaching hospital, previews legislative agenda for 2023

Gov. Jay Inslee visited the site of the University of Washington's new behavioral health training facility, which will offer 150 psychiatric beds and train generations of behavioral health care professionals. Inslee proposed the hospital in 2018 as one part of the state’s efforts to transform Washington’s behavioral health system.

“We have been building and adding capacity all across the state, but here’s the hard reality?—?even with the progress we’re making, demand for services is growing faster than we are keeping up,” Inslee said. “We must continue full funding for facilities like this, shore up our workforce, and address the underlying causes driving up demand for certain services.”

The governor previewed a bevy of behavioral health legislative and budget proposals to expect in the upcoming legislative session. Proposals include intensive services for youth, funding for forensic hospitals and community facilities, workforce investments, specialized community services, competency restoration enhancements, and more.

Read the full story on Gov. Jay Inslee's Medium here.

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In Memoriam

Gov. Jay Inslee ordered flags to half-staff on Tuesday, Dec. 6 to honor fallen Bellevue police officer Jordan Jackson.

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