Weeks after Vashon Youth & Family Services was forced to cut back staff hours due to financial issues, the organization has received $80,000 from King County to help fund its behavioral health programs.
Kathleen Johnson, the organization’s executive director, called the money “emergency funding” and said that she applied for the grant funding earlier this year. The funds are from the county’s Mental Illness and Drug Dependency (MIDD) levy — a countywide 0.1 percent sales tax that generates about $53 million per year. According to King County’s website, revenue from the MIDD must be used for mental health and substance use disorder services.
Johnson’s funding request was unanimously approved by King County Council last month.
“We went to them (the county) and said we need money, and they found this pocket of money,” Johnson said. “This money represents funding that was earmarked by the people of King County to help our neighbors struggling with behavioral health needs. We are grateful to receive this allocation of funds.”
Last month, Johnson told The Beachcomber that due to financial difficulties, six or seven of VYFS’ employees had their hours cut back significantly.
“Some from ten hours to two hours,” she said. “These are valuable people, this is purely economic.”
No one was laid off, but one person did leave voluntarily. She explained that the agency would need $40,000 to $60,000 to make it through to the end of the year with no further program or staff reductions.
“Our struggle right now is to keep capacity as robust as possible while we wait for funding options,” she said. “This will allow us to keep our capacity in place while we work on new opportunites.”
Johnson attributed the financial shortfall to several factors. The now-closed chemical dependency program — it ended in 2014 — lost $100,000 in funding over five years; VIVA, a program that provided for islanders’ basic needs, lost funding in 2013 and operated at a deficit for two years before it closed; and funding for the family service center The PlaySpace, was also lost and a new sustainable financial source was never found for it. The PlaySpace is $30,000 in the red this year, Johnson said, accounting for much of the shortfall.
“We spent our reserves on these and other needed programs and have no reserves this year,” she explained.
Now, with the funding from the county — enough to make it through the year with some left over — Johnson said the agency will be able to continue to treat clients who do not have Medicaid, and also explore the potential to re-start a chemical dependency program.
“We know it is a needed service, but the reimbursement structure that existed at the time (of the last chemical dependency program) was terrible for the agency,” Johnson said. “The county has done a great deal of work to improve reimbursement for treatment services, and we are excited to explore whether we can create a sustainable program with this new system.”
The $80,000 in funding is a one-time grant. The six-year MIDD levy is expiring in December, but is likely to be renewed in 2017.
“We are hopeful that we can gain some access to ongoing support with the (MIDD) renewal,” Johnson said. “The county is working with agencies to provide dedicated, ongoing, sustainable funding. We are happy that Vashon residents will see some benefit from this.”
The funding represents a small victory for local nonprofits as Johnson has been lobbying the county since December 2015 for more funding for island organizations. Due to Vashon’s unincorporated status, nonprofits cannot receive the city funds that organizations in other areas receive. She met with King County Council Chair Joe McDermott in December and other county representatives who attended Vashon Social Services Network meetings at the beginning of this year.
In addition to MIDD funds, VYFS could potentially receive funding from the Best Starts for Kids Initiative, which voters approved last November. The initiative — funded by a property tax levy of 14 cents per $1,000 of assessed home value — went into effect this year and was reflected in property tax bills this past winter. However, the distribution and use of the funds hinges on the passage of an implementation plan that has been created by King County Executive Dow Constantine, and is awaiting approval by the county council. The plan will set forth procedures for the use of the more than $400 million the levy is expected to generate over the next six years.
— Anneli Fogt
