Changes to Washington Thriving in Response to Reduced Resourcing
What was planned. As outlined in statute, Washington Thriving contracted with partners to support project needs and develop qualitative and quantitative landscape and gap analyses focused on the behavioral health system for the prenatal through age 25 (P-25) population. The originally planned contracted partners to support the remainder of the work in 2025 included Health Management Associates (HMA), Mercer, and The University of Connecticut (UConn).
HMA scope:
Coordinate and facilitate Advisory Group and Discussion Group sessions, community engagement activities, and consultation across state and private providers of behavioral health services and supports.
Develop of a qualitative landscape and gap analysis report
Produce of a catalog of behavioral health services for the P-25 population
Support in development of the Strategic Plan
Mercer scope:
Identify key data indicators and sources
Aggregate and analyze data
Develop a quantitative landscape and gap analysis
Propose a behavioral health data dashboard to describe the need, capacity, access/utilization, and outcomes
UConn scope:
Expert consultation throughout the development of the Strategic Plan
Support through review and feedback throughout the drafting stages of Strategic Plan development
Change of plans. On December 2, 2024, Governor Inslee announced Directive 24-19, which includes a freeze on hiring, service contracts, goods and equipment purchases, and travel. This freeze went into effect immediately, and no end date has been provided by the Office of Financial Management. Following this directive, due to unfortunate timing around contract renewals, Washington Thriving is unable to continue contracting with HMA or initiate contracts with other partners as originally anticipated in 2025.
Impacts on resourcing and adjustments to scope/workplan/deliverables:
Reduced resourcing: Without the ability to contract for the work outlined in the original 2025 workplan, the project team has reduced in size and capacity. In collaboration with the remaining project team, the co-chairs have made adjustments to the scope of activities planned in 2025. Although Washington Thriving is still on track to deliver a P-25 Behavioral Health Strategic Plan to the Legislature on November 1, these adjustments mean the analysis underpinning the plan will be less than envisioned. Engagement to gather input and feedback as the plan develops is still a priority, but will be approached in different ways than originally envisioned.
The below figure shows the impact of reduced funding on planned resourcing and workstreams:
How Washington Thriving is adjusting:
Communications – Moving forward, you will receive project updates and meeting invitations from a new (starting in December, 2024) email address: info@washingtonthriving.org
Community engagement – The project team is evaluating the capacity for community engagement to continue with limited resources and capacity.
Discussion Groups – With limited resources, Washington Thriving will continue to hold Discussion Groups, however, these sessions will be held less frequently than originally planned.
Advisory Group – The project team will take on this role and there should be limited changes to the meeting schedule and member support.
Landscape and Gap Analysis – Due to changes in resourcing, several separate deliverables will be produced instead of one cohesive analysis to share for feedback and input including:
2024 Qualitative Findings - produced by HMA and Full Frame Initiative
Funding Oversight Brief - produced by HMA
Quantitative landscape and gap analysis - produced by Mercer (in progress)
Data recommendations - produced by Mercer (in progress)
Proposed Outline for a Data Dashboard produced by Mercer (in progress)
Strategic Plan deliverable – The remaining members of the project team will retain responsibility for synthesizing inputs, producing drafts of the Strategic Plan, and iterating the plan in response to feedback. Feedback will still be elicited throughout the process from the Advisory Group, Discussion Groups, and other key partners, but with limited capacity for one-on-one engagement. Your input is valuable and by subscribing to the newsletter you will be notified of upcoming opportunities to engage in group settings.
Staying committed to the vision. Despite the challenges, Washington Thriving will continue to prioritize collaboration and transparency. The project mission remains focused on delivering a P-25 Behavioral Health Strategic Plan that reflects the long-term vision for Washington’s behavioral health system to serve children, youth, young adults, parents and caregivers across the state.
Please contact the project team if you have any questions: info@washingtonthriving.org