Access & Capacity
About Us
Every young person in Washington should be able to find help quickly, close to home, and at the right level of care. Access means simple entry, clear next steps, and fast connection. Capacity means enough people, programs, hours, and slots to meet demand in every region.
Purpose
Cut time to first service, reduce preventable emergency visits, and keep families connected through transitions by matching supply to need and making entry simple.
What we mean by access
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Clear, visible entry points in every region.
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Navigation that confirms handoffs and stays with the family until connection.
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Practical scheduling with evening and weekend options.
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Language access and ADA accommodations built into every step.
What we mean by capacity
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Right mix of prevention, brief intervention, stabilization, step-down, and ongoing care.
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Reliable staffing and coverage across hours, locations, and school calendars.
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Flexible surge options for seasonal and local spikes.
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Data-informed planning that shifts resources to where they are needed most.
Access & Capacity — What we’ll fix first
Where the system breaks down, how we’ll measure progress, and the steps to expand access.
Six-month targets
25% down in every region.
70% of referrals confirmed within 48 hours.
60% with a follow-up within 7 days.
Evening or weekend availability in all high-volume access points.
Baseline: Q1 2025Public access pages live for each region with how to get help and what to expect.
Baseline: Q1 2025How we expand access
Make front doors simple
One public page per region with phone, text, and web referral.
Standard referral form with essentials and language options.
Real-time status for urgent, soon, and routine pathways.
Why this matters: faster entry points reduce bounce and abandoned referrals.
Close the loop on navigation
Navigators confirm every handoff within 48 hours.
Follow through to the first kept appointment.
Weekly review of stalled referrals with rapid unblock steps.
Why this matters: confirmed handoffs prevent drop-offs between payers and settings.
Make scheduling practical
Evenings and weekends for high-demand services.
Text reminders, easy rescheduling, and no-penalty first misses.
Protected same-week slots for school and primary care referrals.
Why this matters: practical choices raise show rates and cut emergency use.
Offer multiple ways to receive care
School-based, home-based, clinic, community sites, and telehealth.
Mobile teams for stabilization and short episodes of care.
Tribal and community-led models with flexible funding.
Why this matters: more venues equals faster, closer-to-home care.
Guarantee language & accessibility
Qualified interpreters on demand for phone and telehealth.
Translated intake and consent in the top languages by region.
Built-in ADA accommodations and trauma-informed practices.
Why this matters: equitable access improves continuity and outcomes.
Today’s gaps we must close
Long waits for mid-acuity services.
Missed handoffs between settings and payers.
Workforce shortages and uneven hours of operation.
Limited culturally responsive and community-led options.
Inconsistent language access and disability accommodations.
How we build capacity
Scale mid-acuity care, stabilize staffing, align hours with demand, plan with data, and finance reliability.
Scale mid-acuity services
Community stabilization teams keep youth at home.
Short-stay step-down bridges hospital to care.
Brief treatment and coaching start within days.
Why this matters: right mix shortens waits and prevents readmissions.
Build a dependable workforce
Competitive pay, supervision, clear career paths.
Role clarity uses every license at top of scope.
Onboarding cuts documentation time and friction.
Why this matters: stable teams protect access and continuity.
Match hours & coverage to need
Staggered shifts, rotating weekends at access points.
Seasonal plans for school and holiday surges.
Mutual-aid agreements to share load across providers.
Why this matters: aligned hours reduce delays and diversions.
Plan capacity with data
Monthly demand & throughput review by pathway.
Queue views with aged items and bottlenecks.
Redirect low-intensity work to faster options.
Why this matters: unblocks flow and speeds first appointments.
Finance reliability
Pay navigation, stabilization, and step-down services.
Outcome-aligned contracts reward continuity & equity.
Flexible funds for community & Tribal partners.
Why this matters: steady funding sustains supply and reduces churn.
Measures we will publish
Time to first kept appointment.
Closed-loop rate within 48 hours.
Follow-up within 7 days after transitions.
Appointment fill rate and no-show rate.
Evening & weekend slot availability.
Family experience on getting help.
Equity cut: all measures disaggregated by race, language, disability, geography, and payer.
Equity commitments
Target investments where waits are longest.
Community & Tribal partners co-design access points.
Language access from first contact through follow-up.
Physical, digital, and communication accessibility by default.
Rapid improvements playbook
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Identify the top delay with data and user stories.
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Design a thin fix that launches in two weeks or less.
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Test with a small cohort and capture experience.
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Decide to scale, revise, or stop based on results.
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Document the change and update regional guidance.
Roles & accountability
Clear owners keep the system moving—policy, access, capacity, equity, data, and regional practice.
Executive Sponsors
Remove policy and funding barriers.
Access Lead
Runs navigation, referral standards, scheduling practices.
Capacity Lead
Manages coverage, surge plans, provider mutual aid.
Equity Lead
Reviews impacts, tracks gap-closing progress.
Data Lead
Maintains the access dashboard and queue health.
Regional Coalitions
Localize workflows and share lessons across providers.
What partners can do now
Publish a simple “How to refer” page and keep it current.
Hold protected same-week slots for school and primary care.
Enable text reminders and easy rescheduling.
Join the closed-loop navigation roster with a named contact.
Report weekly on open slots, wait time, stalled handoffs.
Risks and how we manage them
Staff burnout
Staggered shifts and rotating weekends.
Manageable caseloads and relief coverage.
Admin relief and smart documentation.
Fragmented entry points
Regional pages for “how to get help.”
Standard referral forms across providers.
No-show spikes
Reminder texts and friendly confirmations.
Flexible rescheduling with no-penalty first misses.
Outreach for high-risk families.
Equity drift
Public gap measures and dashboards.
Funded community & Tribal review.
Phase gate to reliability
We move to the next phase when each region shows:
Sustained improvement in time to first kept appointment.
Stable evening or weekend access at core entry points.
Documented capacity plan with surge coverage.
Community advisory groups confirm progress and usability.
The commitment
Access without capacity frustrates families. Capacity without access hides help behind delays. We will deliver both, together, so young people get the right care, in the right place, at the right time. Families will feel the difference. Providers will feel the relief. Washington will see the results.