Behavioral Health Administration

What We Do

The Department of Social and Health Services’ Behavioral Health and Habilitation Administration offers care to people receiving behavioral health services in state-operated facilities throughout Washington. These facilities provide round-the-clock care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week to about 1200 people.  Our facilities include inpatient behavioral health care for adults in psychiatric hospitals, behavioral health and treatment centers, and centers for civilly committed sex offenders.  Additionally, there is a psychiatric hospital for youth with behavioral health needs.  BHHA also manages the state’s adult forensic mental health care programs, providing competency evaluation and restoration services.

In addition, our Office of Forensic Mental Health Services is responsible for managing Washington’s adult forensic mental health care system, which provides competency evaluation and restoration services.  Forensic mental health services and competency restoration are for adults in the criminal court system.

Strategic planning is a critical component of successful organizations.  It defines the direction of the agency and is used to make decisions about how to best allocate resources to achieve desired outcomes. Check out the BHHA Strategic Plan​.

Annual report

The 2025 Behavioral Health Administration Annual Report highlights our work, including the people we serve, the types of treatment we offer, and the involvement of our staff.

The year 2025 marked significant changes and achievements for BHHA. We opened the 32-bed Baker Unit at the Maple Lane Campus and continued work on new beds with ongoing construction for the new forensic hospital at Western State Hospital. We made improvements in our programs and our facilities, increasing access to care to meet the ever-growing demand for state behavioral health services. We also launched Phase 4 of our Trueblood implementation plan with our Healthcare Authority partners, focusing on enhancing existing Trueblood programs in 16 counties and adding treatment capacity.

The complementary 2025 BHHA By the Numbers report tells the story at a glance through graphs, pie charts and statistics. While both reports are comprehensive, they only capture some of what we do and how our services help Washington residents shape their lives.

Learn about the Washington State Civil Discharge Settlement Agreement.