Since 2024, BHCore has provided innovation grants to Fire/EMS agencies to improve their response to mental health and substance use disorders, and to support their suicide-prevention efforts. These grants are designed to promote multidisciplinary behavioral-health response teams, community partnerships and statewide coordination. The Innovation Grants Program is supported with funds from the Washington State Health Care Authority.
In January 2026, BHCore named seven recipients for its 2026–2027 Fire/EMS innovation grants:
- Snohomish County Fire District #5
- Riverside Fire Authority
- Conquer Clinics, working with several Snohomish County Fire/EMS agencies
- Walla Walla Fire Department
- Port Angeles Fire Department, partnering with Clallam County Fire District 2, Clallam County Fire District 4, and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe
- Yakima EMS
- City of Anacortes, partnering with City of Mount Vernon, Skagit County Sheriff’s Office and Skagit County Public Health
This year’s awards include prior grantees whose outstanding work merited continued investment and new organizations with innovative ideas that earned first-time awards. All of our grantees will focus on the following innovation areas: suicide prevention, innovations in field-based medication, and partnering peer-support specialists with first responders.
During the grant period, all seven agencies will work with BHCore to host Coast, an eight-hour Fire/EMS behavioral-health response training in their regions. Co-response team members are also eligible to participate in Poise, a 40-hour, BHCore-developed training for crisis responders.
Making a real and measurable impact
In the inaugural 2024-2025 cycle of our Fire/EMS innovation grants, BHCore funding and training contributed to real and measurable impact at the local level across Washington state for field-based overdose response, 988 collaborations, and supporting behavioral health agency designations. Read the grants summary report.