Washington SB 5762: Concerning financing of the mercury-containing light stewardship program.

Bill Text

AN ACT Relating to 988 crisis hotline funding and technology 1
requirements; amending RCW 82.86.050; and reenacting and amending RCW 2
71.24.890.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 71.24.890 and 2025 c 424 s 980 and 2025 c 360 s 19 5
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:6
(1) Establishing the state designated 988 contact hubs and 7
enhancing the crisis response system will require collaborative work 8
between the department, the authority, and regional system partners 9
within their respective roles. The department shall have primary 10
responsibility for designating 988 contact hubs, and shall seek 11
recommendations from the behavioral health administrative services 12
organizations to determine which 988 contact hubs best meet regional 13
needs. The authority shall have primary responsibility for 14
developing, implementing, and facilitating coordination of the crisis 15
response system and services to support the work of the designated 16
988 contact hubs, regional crisis lines, and other coordinated 17
regional behavioral health crisis response system partners. In any 18
instance in which one agency is identified as the lead, the 19
expectation is that agency will communicate and collaborate with the 20
S-4454.1
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5762
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senate Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators Orwall,
Dhingra, Nobles, and C. Wilson)
READ FIRST TIME 02/09/26.
p. 1 SSB 5762

other to ensure seamless, continuous, and effective service delivery 1
within the statewide crisis response system.2
(2) The department shall provide adequate funding for the state's 3
crisis call centers to meet an expected increase in the use of the 4
988 contact hubs based on the implementation of the 988 crisis 5
hotline. The funding level shall be established at a level 6
anticipated to achieve an in-state call response rate of at least 90 7
percent by July 22, 2022. The funding level shall be determined by 8
considering standards and cost per call predictions provided by the 9
administrator of the national suicide prevention lifeline, call 10
volume predictions, guidance on crisis call center performance 11
metrics, and necessary technology upgrades. Contracts with the 988 12
contact hubs:13
(a) May provide funding to support designated 988 contact hubs to 14
enter into limited partnerships with the public safety answering 15
point to increase the coordination and transfer of behavioral health 16
calls received by certified public safety telecommunicators that are 17
better addressed by clinic interventions provided by the 988 system. 18
Tax revenue may be used to support partnerships. These partnerships 19
with 988 and public safety may be expanded to include regional crisis 20
lines administered by behavioral health administrative services 21
organizations;22
(b) Shall require that 988 contact hubs enter into data-sharing 23
agreements, when appropriate, with the department, the authority, 24
regional crisis lines, and applicable regional behavioral health 25
administrative services organizations to provide reports and client 26
level data regarding 988 contact hub calls, as allowed by and in 27
compliance with existing federal and state law governing the sharing 28
and use of protected health information. Data-sharing agreements with 29
regional crisis lines must include real-time information sharing. All 30
coordinated regional behavioral health crisis response system 31
partners must share dispatch time, arrival time, and disposition for 32
behavioral health calls referred for outreach by each region 33
consistent with any regional protocols developed under RCW 71.24.432. 34
The department and the authority shall establish requirements for 988 35
contact hubs to report data to regional behavioral health 36
administrative services organizations for the purposes of maximizing 37
medicaid reimbursement, as appropriate, and implementing this chapter 38
and chapters 71.05 and 71.34 RCW. The behavioral health 39
administrative services organization may use information received 40
p. 2 SSB 5762

from the 988 contact hubs in administering crisis services for the 1
assigned regional service area, contracting with a sufficient number 2
of licensed or certified providers for crisis services, establishing 3
and maintaining quality assurance processes, maintaining patient 4
tracking, and developing and implementing strategies to coordinate 5
care for individuals with a history of frequent crisis system 6
utilization.7
(3) The department shall adopt rules by January 1, 2025, to 8
establish standards for designation of crisis call centers as 9
designated 988 contact hubs. The department shall collaborate with 10
the authority, other agencies, and coordinated regional behavioral 11
health crisis response system partners to assure coordination and 12
availability of services, and shall consider national guidelines for 13
behavio