The King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) welcomes Susan McLaughlin, Ph.D., as the new Director of the Behavioral Health and Recovery Division (BHRD) effective Sept. 11, 2023.

Dr. Susan McLaughlin is a licensed clinical psychologist with more than twenty years of leadership experience in health, behavioral health, and social services as a clinician, researcher, and policy administrator. McLaughlin started her career in youth mental health and later served as the Health and Human Services Administrator at DCHS in BHRD where she led multiple initiatives to improve public policy and programmatic outcomes for individuals with mental health and substance use treatment needs in the region.

Since then, McLaughlin served as the founding Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer at HealthierHere, a nonprofit collaborative dedicated to eliminating health disparities in King County through the Accountable Community of Health (ACH). Most recently, she was the director of the University of Washington Medicine Behavioral Health Institute (BHI) at Harborview Medical Center, focused on addressing the challenges facing Washington’s behavioral health system through clinical innovation, training and workforce development, and research and evaluation. The BHI also serves as a regional resource for advancing behavioral health outcomes and policy to support sustainable system change.

“It is an honor to come back to King County and DCHS in this role, especially at this critical moment in time for behavioral health in our region and for the country,” said McLaughlin. “For most of my career I have focused on creating equitable access to effective care for children, youth, and adults experiencing mental health and substance use disorders. We have an opportunity to truly put the resources we have now, and in the future, to use by improving the current system and reimagining how we think about behavioral health treatment overall. I look forward to working with state and local partners to create a more robust and modernized system that focuses on treating the whole person.”

As Division Director, McLaughlin will oversee the behavioral health treatment system for King County. The work of the Crisis Care Centers initiative, the MIDD behavioral health fund, King County’s crisis services, and the first-of-its-kind Integrated Care Network are within BHRD. The Director will closely partner with department leaders on additional DCHS initiatives, including Best Starts for Kids, the Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy and Health Through Housing, along with cross-departmental work with Public Health – Seattle & King County. The division oversees access to behavioral health treatment and services throughout King County by contracting with more than 90 community-based provider agencies.

“We are thrilled to have Susan on board as our behavioral health lead for the department,” said DCHS Director Leo Flor. “More than 60,000 King County residents rely on our behavioral health division for services and treatment. Susan’s experience in integrating physical health and behavioral health, innovating payment models, and improving health outcomes for communities will only strengthen this important work. Her expertise and urgency in expanding substance use treatment is vital as we continue to advance our response to this public health crisis. Susan’s focus on prevention, recovery, and health equity are what we need to transform our current underfunded system and meet the growing need for care.” 

McLaughlin will work directly on the voter approved Crisis Care Centers initiative. Approved in April, the initiative will create same-day access to care for a person in crisis and will help reduce the severity of the crisis. By reducing the use of costly hospital stays and jails, the Crisis Care Centers can instead connect people to available treatment options, and other resources necessary to stabilize. The implementation plan is in development and will be proposed by Executive Constantine by the end of 2023 for review and approval by the Metropolitan King County Council. 

DCHS oversees a wide range of programs ranging from youth and young adults to seniors and veterans. The department funds services for children, people with developmental disabilities, housing and community development, homelessness services, behavioral health, veterans' services, help for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and education and employment programs for youth and adults.