WCAAP’s executive director, Sarah Rafton, president, Dr. Michael Barsotti, and members Dr. Breanna Barger-Kamate and Dr. Tony Woodward all spoke with Hannah Furfaro at the Seattle Times about our state’s crisis in children’s mental and behavioral health.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of kids across Washington have been “boarded” inside emergency departments in recent years, because the hospital has determined they need to be admitted for psychiatric care but no mental health beds are available. No one interviewed for this story supports boarding. Instead, it’s widely viewed as a grim reality. And the problem, which existed before the pandemic, is only getting worse.
Hannah Furfaro, Seattle Times
Read: 33 days without sunlight: Why hundreds of Washington kids are living in windowless emergency rooms