By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
January is Substance Use Disorder Treatment Month, a time to highlight the urgent need for treatment and the systemic barriers that disproportionately affect Black communities. Structural racism, economic inequality, stigma, and historical mistrust continue to limit access to care, contributing to higher overdose rates.
In King County, Black residents suffer overdose deaths at significantly higher rates. In response, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay recently appointed Susan McLaughlin as co-interim director of the Department of Community and Human Services. McLaughlin previously led the county’s Behavioral Health and Recovery Division and brings more than two decades of experience in behavioral health and substance use treatment.
“I am super excited, and I actually have been involved with the Department of Community and Human Services in various ways for the past 20 years, maybe a little bit more. But, we support and fund most of the continuum of human services for low-income folks in King County, and also administer the Medicaid behavioral health services,” McLaughlin said. “So, I, in this new role, really am responsible for overseeing the division to deliver services to the people in King County in need across kind of both the lifespan and the range of health and human services that people might need access to.”
McLaughlin said that the need for treatment is immense and that raising awareness during this month is critical.
“There are many people struggling with varying degrees of substance use disorder, and all of them need to know that there is treatment available. Most importantly, we want people to know that treatment works and recovery is possible, and that is why it is so important to highlight this issue this month,” McLaughlin said. “Every person’s pathway is different, and we are trying to create as low-barrier access as possible and create as many entry points as possible within the system.”
To meet that need, King County is expanding treatment options and increasing the number of accessible, safe spaces where people can begin recovery. McLaughlin said one of the most persistent challenges is the lack of physical places for people to turn when seeking help.
“Our goal is to have those engagement points available anywhere a person might enter the system, but in terms of actual facilities themselves, our crisis care centers are the newest and innovative models to come into our space,” McLaughlin said. “I don’t think people always think about this, but they really are providing the first point of crisis intervention for people with both mental illness and substance use disorders.”
While the first crisis care center opened earlier this year, McLaughlin said that additional crisis centers, overdose recovery programs, shelter support services, and other resources have also been launched to provide safe places for people to recover.
According to county data, overdose deaths in King County more than doubled between 2020 and 2023, largely due to fentanyl in the unregulated drug supply. In 2024, the county reported 1,044 overdose deaths, even as some months saw a decline. Black and African American residents — who make up about 7 percent of the county’s population — accounted for 20 percent of overdose deaths and 24 percent of emergency department visits for opioid overdoses that year.
In response, the county has focused on expanding equitable access to treatment, especially for historically underserved communities. Through the Behavioral Health and Recovery Division, more than 50 providers offer mental health and substance use treatment, resources which McLaughlin says are especially important for marginalized populations.
“Within that network, there are a number of specialty providers that really specialize in some of the marginalized communities, or communities that have disproportionately lacked access to care. Examples would be therapeutic health services which focuses particularly on the Black population,” McLaughlin said.
“Through some of our local funding, we are funding more non-traditional, community-based organizations that are supporting those who are deep in communities that disproportionately lack access, and funding them to support treatment access through local funding,” McLaughlin continued.
McLaughlin said that the need for treatment is immense and that raising awareness during this month is critical.
“Nobody wakes up and says, ‘I want to have a substance use disorder or I want this to interrupt my life.’ It’s a brain disease, just like diabetes, just like cancer, and it needs to be treated like that and understood with that same frame of mind,” McLaughlin said. “So, educating people to understand that it’s not their fault, and that there are treatments available and people can get back onto a path of recovery and live the life that they envision for themselves is what we want for individuals.”
