Information

Type: Deliberation

Department: BOCC - Board of County Commissioners

Directors' Update: TBD

Business Meeting: July 13, 2020

Summary:

Approving a grant agreement between Lewis County and Cascade Community Healthcare to establish telemedicine for SUD treatment

Publications:

Cover Letter To: Cascade Community Healthcare www.cascadementalhealth.org 2428 W Reynolds Avenue Centralia, WA 98531

Additional Copies To: Rieva Lester, Becky Butler and JP Anderson

Resolution

WHEREAS, RCW 82.14.460 authorizes a county to fix and impose a sales and use tax sales for chemical dependency or mental health treatment services or therapeutic courts and must be used solely for the purpose of providing for the operation or delivery of chemical dependency or mental health treatment programs and services and for the operation or delivery of therapeutic court programs and services; and

WHEREAS, the .1 of 1% sales and use tax authorized in RCW 82.14.460 was approved by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and adopted in Ordinance 1224 on June 20, 2011; and

WHEREAS, the BOCC of Lewis County has approved awarding funds from the CD-MH-TC Sales Tax Fund to local agencies for community-based projects which provide prevention, intervention, and/or treatment of behavioral health and Substance-Use Disorders (SUD) in Rural Lewis County for persons and/or families of Lewis County; and

WHEREAS, this project would assist in establishing hub sites at local behavioral health clinics, provide remote behavioral health and substance use counseling and improve the standard of care and outreach efforts for SUD services in Lewis County by having select clinical staff trained in brief assessment, intervention, and referral techniques in order to connect individuals in need of SUD treatment with additional information and options; and

WHEREAS, matching funds in the amount of $18,000.00 toward the USDA Telemedicine Grant Program application submitted by the Cascade Community Healthcare dedicated to telehealth with a focus on behavioral health and substance abuse and would come from the .1 of 1% sales and use tax imposed by the adoption of Ordinance 1224 on June 20, 2011; and

WHEREAS, the BOCC has determined that eligible expenditures include creating telehealth pods at both Hub and End-User Sites, including computers, wiring, speakers, furniture, and privacy features for the comfort and security of clients; and

WHEREAS, the BOCC has determined that the activity herein described meets the requirements under RCW 82.14.460 and will provide for the operation or delivery of chemical dependency or mental health treatment programs and services and is in the best interest of the general welfare, health and safety of the citizens of the Lewis County.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that up to $18,000.00 is hereby pledged on a reimbursement basis from the County’s Mental Health Tax Fund No. 1100, using .1 of 1% sales and use tax in fiscal year 2020, solely for the purpose of establishing a telehealth network in Lewis County, creating access to telemedicine and SUD treatment to Lewis County Residents.

DONE IN OPEN SESSION this 13th day of July, 2020.