Thurston County has awarded four agencies with a combined $710,000 in grants for one-time projects aimed at providing innovative mental health and substance use disorder services to county residents.
The Behavioral Health Community Grants are funded by the county’s Treatment Sales Tax, a one-tenth of 1% sales tax collected in Thurston County since 2009 that works alongside federal and state funding such as Medicaid to meet mental health and substance use needs in Thurston County.
Programs funded with the Treatment Sales Tax aim to reduce justice involvement, emergency room use, health care costs, and public assistance, according to the county.
A total of 12 proposals were submitted for the most-recent round of grants. A review panel of county subject matter experts and Treatment Sales Tax Advisory Committee members reviewed and evaluated all proposals before presenting a final recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners.
The Board of County Commissioners approved the four recommended awards at its March 31 meeting.
The awardees are:
The Treatment Sales Tax Committee also recommended approving a grant to the National Alliance on Mental Health for its “Ending the Silence” initiative, but the contract is still being finalized and will be presented at a future county meeting.
The proposal is for $20,000 in 2026 and in 2027 to provide mental health education and treatment coordination in middle and high schools.
