Cheney Free Press -

SPOKANE — Spokane County is one of 22 counties suing the state Department of Social and Health Services.

The plaintiffs want to hold the state accountable for “fulfilling its obligation to evaluate and treat patients with behavioral health concerns and would reduce further strain on a crumbling behavioral health system that the state legislature and local governments are actively working to restore.”

The case, Pierce County v. Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, stems from the department’s decision to stop providing initial evaluation and treatment for “a r...