The Snoqualmie Valley Community Network partnered with King County Jan. 22 to host a focus group on services for mental illness and drug abuse in the Valley.

In 2007, King County passed the 0.1 percent Mental Illness and Drug Dependency (MIDD) sales tax to expand and develop substance abuse and mental health care programs. On Dec. 31 of this year, that tax will expire. Before making plans to renew the tax, county staff began reviewing the program’s effect and how it could be improved.

The focus group was designed to gather information on services available for people who need them in the Valley. During the two-hour meeting, 30 area attendees discussed the state of mental health care in the Valley and specified aspects they would like to see improvement from.

Common things participants wanted to see were improved advocacy, funding across the board, better transportation to health care centers for those who are unable to travel, a 24/7 point of contact to help callers navigate all the different mental health and drug dependency care options in the Valley and a community resource center.

Chris Verschuyl, strategic program planner at King County’s Behavioral Health and Recovery Division, spent the duration of the focus group taking notes on the discussion and listening to feedback from attendees.

“This community is one we really want to actively include in the process,” Verschuyl said. “We’ve been impressed with the richness of these conversations and the number of different voices that are here. There are folks coming together around some ideas that will help to shape the process and give us some perspective from the Valley that is really important to be heard.”

Laura Smith, executive director of the Snoqualmie Valley Community Network, was glad to see people engaged in this topic, especially since resources in the Valley can often be hard to access.

“I’m glad to see so much energy coming around the idea of a navigator or a community representative who can help folks navigate the different systems that exist,” she said.

“Secondly, I really appreciate how many people vocalized that we really need to have more access within the Snoqualmie Valley. It’s been tough to really get that message out, to raise our hands and say ‘hey we are out here, please don’t forget about us,’ so hearing folks talk about the need for increased access, increased service availability here… as well as someone to help navigate some of those difficult systems is key.”

For additional information or questions about the MIDD tax, send email to midd@kingcounty.gov.

Laura Smith started the focus group meeting with introductions.