The House Health Care and Wellness Committee unanimously passed an amended bill out of committee that helps support co-response programs across the state.
A portion of HB 2245 directs the University of Washington to develop a co-response education training academy to certify co-responder professionals on best practices. In the amendment adopted by the committee, the bill now clarifies that the certification created by the University of Washington is an optional certification for co-response professionals and cannot serve as a requirement for licensure of first responders or licensed human services professionals.
The bill survived the first cutoff of the 2024 legislative session. It now awaits further action in the House.
Co-response programs set to receive significant state support
January 12, 2024
Over the past several years, cities have taken a larger role in providing behavioral health services to individuals in crisis. A new proposal out of the legislature would increase state support in developing and certifying these critical services.
HB 2245, sponsored by Reps. Dan Bronoske (D–Lakewood) and Carolyn Eslick (R–Sultan), builds on an analysis of the behavioral health landscape carried out in 2022 and 2023. The analysis found there are over 60 co-response programs operating around the state. Additionally, the analysis found that many of these programs lacked proper funding and access to high-quality training.
Under the bill, the University of Washington is directed to accomplish four tasks:
- Establish a pilot program to carry out a co-response education training academy. The academy would be a pathway for certification in co-response best practices.
- Explore the feasibility of a statewide crisis training certificate program for associate, bachelor, and master’s degree programs.
- Develop and pilot a statewide internal peer support program to help co-response professionals who have faced traumatic incidents while on the job.
- Collaborate with co-response stakeholders to increase the capacity of an annual statewide co-response conference.
In addition to this work, the bill also creates a definition for ‘co-response’. This new definition is important as it establishes a clear idea of what co-response programs accomplish and what professions and roles fall under co-response.
AWC is a strong support of co-response programs and currently administers the Alternative Response Team Grant which provides cities funding to help cover the costs of establishing co-response programs.
Dates to remember
HB 2245 is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Health Care & Wellness Committee on Wednesday, January 17 at 1:30 pm.