The Washington State Mental Health Summit will launch six new initiatives this year when stakeholders from across the state gather on Thursday, November 2 at the Husky Union Building or attend virtually. Hosted by the UW Medicine Behavioral Health Institute, Chad’s Legacy Project and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the event will feature a keynote presentation on crisis care by Matthew Goldman, MD, MS, the new Medical Director for King County Crisis Care Centers Levy Implementation Planning. We will also get updates on past initiatives started at earlier summit meetings.

Initiative presenters will include Mollie Forrester, MSW, LICSW, speaking about a new effort to build a Family and Caregiver Academy located at the new Center for Behavioral Health and Learning that will offer workshops to build skills and address family and caregiver burden and training for faculty, residents and staff on how to engage families and caregivers effectively and compassionately. Eric Bruns, PhD, will present on the Workforce for Student Well-Being program funded by the US Department of Education that provides conditional scholarships and training from the SMART Center to Social Workers in exchange for commitment to serve in high-need schools for three years. Other initiative topics include transforming dementia care through increasing access to trained nurse specialists, mental and somatic health services for Veterans, preparing co-responding mental health professionals to work with law enforcement in crisis response, and extending the reach of Pro Bono Counseling.

The Summit is fully funded by event underwriters and is free to attend.