Pierce County Councilmembers Derek Young and Connie Ladenburg had proposed a resolution directing the Performance Audit Committee to conduct a thorough, countywide evaluation of behavioral health services. However, Council Resolution R2015-91 was not adopted at the Tuesday, Aug. 25, council meeting, prompting this statement from Young.

“The behavioral health inventory would have identified where service gaps exist, what their impact on county services are, where investments should be made and what success should look like – all at no additional cost to taxpayers. I’m disappointed that we continue to fail the citizens we represent, who want us to do something to prevent people from further suffering.

“We’ve heard testimony from the public, the Sheriff’s Department, the Pierce County Jail, judges and from the health care providers who are doing their best to handle the crisis. This is an unfortunate turn of events, but I refuse to accept ‘no’ as the final answer. We’ll just have to try to find other ways to address this issue.

“Though the Council continues refusing to accept responsibility for dealing with behavioral health in our county, I don’t believe that this is the end of our effort to provide relief to our most vulnerable citizens.”