By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Last week, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell introduced a series of public safety investments as part of his Mid-Year Supplemental budget package, building on the 2023-2024 adopted budget.
Designed to address emerging needs in the city, the mayor’s supplemental budget proposal will provide additional funding to the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) Department, training public safety staff, abating dangerous buildings, recruiting police officers, and improving sexual assault investigations.
“Seattle is making meaningful progress on our most serious public safety challenges and this package will ensure we continue that momentum with needed investments, improvements, and staffing,” Harrell said. “This revenue-neutral budget package represents both an urgent and thoughtful investment to improve safety and address behavioral health needs, bringing a strategic spending approach and pursuing outside funds to make our dollars go farther.”
The investment allocates $1.9 million to add 21 new positions to the CARE Department, which aims to deploy behavioral health responders citywide and seven days a week, as announced in June. The 2024 costs for the CARE expansion are fully funded through federal support, thanks to Congressman Adam Smith and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal.
“Mayor Harrell’s mid-year supplemental budget proposal helps us make progress on multiple urgent public safety priorities,” said Callie Craighead, spokesperson for the mayor’s office. “This includes recruiting more police officers for a well-staffed department, allowing the city to take action on dangerous vacant buildings that pose hazards to neighbors and first responders, and hiring more behavioral health responders in the CARE department to respond to emergency calls to help people in need and free up limited police resources.”
The Mid-Year Supplemental package includes $1.7 million in general fund spending, fully paid for in 2024 through savings from a previously announced hiring freeze and anticipated healthcare cost savings.
Key allocations include:
• Police Recruitment: $800,000 to expand recruitment marketing and continue progress on this critical need.
• Dangerous Buildings: $350,000 to cover the cost of demolishing vacant buildings, which have posed significant hazards with over 30 fires reported this year. This funding will cover demolition costs while the City recovers expenses from property owners.
• Paramedic Hiring: $258,000 to train five additional paramedic students to address vacancies in this essential role.
• Sexual Assaults: $250,000 to address gaps identified by the mayor’s Executive Order and the Mayor’s Advisory Panel on Sexual Assault and System Reform, including developing trauma-informed training for police, expanding data analysis, and improving victim support.
Additionally, the package authorizes up to $10 million in youth mental health investments, with 2024 costs covered by the Payroll Expense Tax. These investments include:
• School-Based Counselors: $5.6 million to add full-time mental health counselors in all 29 school-based health centers starting in January 2025, expanding in-person therapy access and exploring scaling up solutions in partnership with Public Health – Seattle & King County.
• Telehealth Therapy: $2.4 million to expand telehealth therapy services, increasing access from 80 students currently to over 2,000.
• School Safety: $2 million towards youth violence prevention, intervention, and interruption programs, promoting both short- and long-term safety.
To guide the City’s investments in youth mental health, the Innovation and Performance Team completed an intensive research report, interviewing over 150 students about their mental health and safety challenges. The report revealed:
• 50% of Seattle Public Schools 8th graders and 71% of 12th graders report experiencing feelings of anxiety.
• One in three 12th graders report feelings of depression.
• 12% of students perceived handguns as available.
“Mayor Harrell included $10 million in funding to support mental health and safety investments for youth. In conjunction with this funding, the mayor issued an Executive Order outlining specific actions the city will take to improve safety outcomes for students and the community,” said Craighead. “These efforts align with actions taken by King County and community partners during this regional ‘100 Days of Action’ initiative to respond to and reduce gun violence involving young people. The mental health and safety investments included in the supplemental budget proposal will not only support activities during the 100 Days of Action initiative but will continue into the upcoming school year.”
Additionally, the proposal includes a $2 million investment in youth violence prevention, intervention, and interruption programs.
“This is an important priority for Mayor Harrell,” said Craighead. “Recognizing the impact gun violence continues to have on students following multiple shootings at schools, including the tragic deadly shooting at Garfield High School. Mayor Harrell believes our youth should be and feel safe in our schools and neighborhoods.”
The budget proposal is currently under consideration by the City Council, with a vote scheduled for August 13.