Discovery Sprints: Diving Deep into Four Important Challenges
Discovery Sprints
In 2024, Washington Thriving commissioned a set of “discovery sprints” to dive deep into four significant challenges and gaps in our behavioral health system.
Behavioral health during pregnancy: How might the State of Washington better connect pregnant people experiencing behavioral health concerns, including use of substances, to services while pregnant?
Behavioral health in schools: How might the State of Washington better connect middle and high school students to behavioral health (mental health and substance use) services through school?
Transition-age youth (TAY): How can the State of Washington improve the experience for youth and young adults with complex behavioral health needs by creating a more integrated approach that addresses service gaps and is designed with their direct input to meet their needs?
Complex hospital discharge: How might we better support youth with complex behavioral health needs and their caregivers as they reintegrate into their communities after a hospital discharge?
A discovery sprint is a methodology for collecting, analyzing, and integrating feedback on complex systems. These were short, focused research projects designed to quickly understand a challenge and identify actionable paths forward. The sprints consulted literature and evidence, but prioritized hearing first-hand consultation with practitioners and individuals with lived experience.
This approach is ideal for exploring why certain issues exist, understanding current processes, identifying root causes, and uncovering opportunities to address them. Discovery sprints cannot solve historically systemic issues or answer all questions on a topic — often they generate additional questions for further exploration.
These discovery sprints were led by Bloom Works. All of the reports and presentations produced by Bloom Works can be accessed here.
How were the four topics chosen?
The number of topics was determined by available time and funding. Topics were chosen by the Washington Thriving co-chairs, taking into account numerous considerations, with the aim of touching on a range of developmental stages from before birth through early adulthood, recognizing the unique challenges faced by youth with complex behavioral health needs, and addressing challenges in a range of settings. The topics chosen are each widely understood to be critical to the future of equitable behavioral health in Washington State. They are not the only topics that are critical to address, and the choice of topics is not meant to imply that other issues don’t merit similar exploration.
What now?
The findings and recommendations from the discovery sprints are being integrated into the Strategic Plan. In addition to the high-level recommendations in the comprehensive plan, the specific recommendations will be incorporated in more-detailed, issue-specific briefs. In some cases, complementary action is already being taken.
Related to behavioral health during pregnancy: As part of a recommendation to focus support at crucial developmental milestones, the Strategic Plan will call for increasing access to family-oriented perinatal substance use. Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is incorporating Bloom Works’ findings into its ongoing work to evolve its approach to Plans of Safe Care. Funding is being raised for additional work to fill Washington’s gap in family-oriented, integrated behavioral health and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.
Related to behavioral health in schools: The primary recommendation from the sprint related to behavioral health in schools was taken up by the School-Based Behavioral Health and Suicide Prevention (SBBHSP) subgroup of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Work Group (CYBHWG) and incorporated into the budget request for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for the next biennium. The CYBHWG put forward a recommendation to the Legislature to require OSPI, in partnership with others, to define minimum capabilities for behavioral health supports provided by and/or coordinated by Washington schools and establish direction for state-wide programming to strengthen capacity in schools. This recommendation was incorporated into bills proposed in the 2025 legislative session, but they did not advance. The Strategic Plan will call for the state to define the role of schools in supporting students’ behavioral health as an important success factor for educational outcomes. This will include equipping schools to identify needs and connect students with appropriate behavioral health supports.
Related to transition-age youth (TAY): As part of a recommendation to focus support at crucial developmental milestones, the Strategic Plan will call for the development of a TAY-oriented continuum of care that includes providers equipped to effectively support this population and provides resources to help transition-age youth and their support networks understand their needs, navigate services, and coordinate care.
Related to complex hospital discharge: The Strategic Plan will include recommendations meant to address the barriers to effectively supporting those with the most complex needs. These recommendations are being developed in partnership with the team in the Governor’s office tasked with supporting and identifying appropriate services and living arrangements for a child in crisis. This team, originally established by HB1580 (2024), was just extended via SHB1272 (2025) to continue its work through June 2027.
What’s next?
Washington Thriving is raising philanthropic resources to make further progress on the recommendations from the discovery sprints. The Strategic Plan is due to the Legislature on November 1. One the plan is submitted, the CYBHWG will continue advocating for resourcing and implementing the numerous recommendations, including those associated with the discovery sprints.
Want to learn more?
Contact the Washington Thriving project team: info@washingtonthriving.org
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.washingtonthriving.org/newsletter-sign-up
Join a meeting: https://www.washingtonthriving.org/events