Abstract
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on May 9 signed a group of bills hoped to improve the state's troubled behavioral health system, including measures for a new teaching hospital in Seattle, The Associated Press reported. The teaching hospital measure, sponsored by longtime former Democratic House Speaker Frank Chopp, directs University of Washington officials to plan a new facility focused on training medical students to enter the broader behavioral health field, which includes both mental health and substance abuse treatment. A separate measure from Sen. Manka Dhingra (D‐Redmond) responds to the Trueblood decision, in which federal courts found the state to be leaving people found incompetent to stand trial waiting in jails for unconstitutional lengths of time. The measure assigns impartial “forensic navigators” to shepherd them through competency‐restoration treatment and expands diversion efforts. Inslee signed the bills at a ceremony in the state Capitol. Collectively, the bills aim to address strain in — and federal action against — the state's troubled mental health system.
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