Words matter: Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Equitable Language Guide
It is important to make sure the way we talk and write fosters inclusivity, respect, and equity. In 2020, Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC) recognized gaps in how they communicated with the people they serve. To resolve this issue, PHSKC revised their communication practices which included enhancing equity and inclusion through the words they used in messaging. What partially started as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, grew into a multi-year project that resulted in the launch of the Equitable Language Guide for PHSKC.
The Equitable Language Guide is a tool co-created by the Public Health communications team and staff to help ensure that the way we talk and write shows respect and uses equitable and inclusive language. The guide aims to reflect people’s experiences, use words that community members feel best describe them and resonates with the community, and represent the diverse people we serve. The guide includes best practices; guidance for language considerations for public health topics, issues, and community groups; resources and links for more learning; a glossary of terms; and more.
“Equitable language makes better communications because people connect to our information when they feel seen, heard, and understood,” said Meredith Li-Vollmer, a communications manager at Public Health. “More importantly, it’s part of the work we must do to dismantle oppressive systems that have created inequity, including the use of language.”
To create the guide, the communications team formed a workgroup that included Ken Anderson, Ariana Donaville, Janae Giles, Catherine Hinrichsen, Hilary Karasz, Meredith Li-Vollmer, and Fred Mariscal. The team reached out to other Public Health programs that have strong relationships with community partners to start a learning process and review community feedback. The workgroup relied on feedback from staff who work directly with diverse community members and partners, as well as from community members who work with public health programs. The guide was completed with input and reviewed by staff throughout PHSKC and community partners.
“Using inclusive language also helps us avoid othering, or de-valuing people who you think don’t fit some kind of norm. For example, a colleague told us that co-workers have unconsciously othered them and hurt them with careless remarks that hit hard because of a family situation,” said Catherine Hinrichsen, a communications specialist at Public Health and equitable language guide workgroup member. “We hope this guide will help us in all our communications, including everyday conversations.”
Language is powerful and words matter. The communications team recognized that language that is used to describe communities that bear the highest burden of public health inequities is often from a deficit mindset and can have negative connotations. Another priority for the guide was to include best practices that are essential for Public Health communications and to include language considerations that counter the stigma and harmful language that historically has been used in the public health field. Some of the best practices listed in the guide include:
- Center the communities we serve, which includes prioritizing the voices, needs, and perspectives of community members.
- Prioritize describing communities by their strengths and assets, rather than deficits and weaknesses.
- Build relationships with our community and regularly ask for feedback.
- Use Plain Language practices, including simple words, short sentences, and active voice.
- Continue to learn about equitable language practices, the contexts related to equitable language use, and the communities that we serve.
Guided by our True North and values, the equitable language guide is more than best practices on what to say and what not to say. It is a framework that tackles how language has perpetuated inequities in the communities we serve. Adopting and using equitable language helps demonstrate that we care about our communities and supports the use of cultural terms and phrases that show respect toward those we serve and who have been institutionally and systemically oppressed.
The guide helps to establish and rebuild trust within all communities throughout King County. It is also a vital resource that helps to foster an inclusive, respectful, and equitable workplace. As an institution, we must actively do the work needed to dismantle oppressive systems including the language we use – and help make King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive.
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Dependent eligibility verification audit begins June 18
King County and its labor partners are collaborating with our trusted vendor Mercer Consulting to conduct an eligibility verification of the dependents enrolled in our health plans. If you cover a family member on your King County medical, dental, or vision plan, you are required to verify the eligibility of each person by completing the process and providing documentation.
On June 18, Mercer will send a mailed letter and an email with instructions and details explaining the process. Employees are required to review plan eligibility requirements and provide documentation supporting the eligibility of each dependent or indicate removal for any family member who is not eligible.
Documents may include birth certificates; marriage certificates; tax returns; and documents that show relationship status, such as utility bills, bank statements, mortgage or lease, or vehicle registration. A Benefit Access Fee Audit form is also required for spouses and state-registered domestic partners enrolled in the KingCare PPO medical plan.
Documents proving eligibility for each enrolled dependent must be received by Mercer by July 29, 2024. Failure to do so will result in the dependent being removed from coverage on Sept. 30, 2024.
Please look for the information Mercer will be sending on June 18 and take action by the July 29 deadline.
Dependent verification audits are a best practice among employers to help manage regulatory compliance and rising health insurance costs.
If you have additional questions about this process or the eligibility of your covered family members, you can contact the Mercer Call Center at 866-703-3763 beginning June 18.
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Recipient of BRG Innovation Award for Cost helped stabilize region’s behavioral healthcare system
A team comprised of employees from the Behavioral Health and Recovery Division, Finance and Compliance Services, and Performance Measurement and Evaluation in the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) is the recipient of the 2023 Best-Run Government (BRG) Innovation Award for Cost. The award was one of eight announced by Executive Dow Constantine in a video.
The Behavioral Health Medicaid Rate Increase Project Team was instrumental in increasing rates for behavioral health providers, who have been struggling to attract and retain staff at a time when the County seeks to increase access to behavioral health services and treatment.
In 2023, staff vacancies in the behavioral health system were double what they were in 2019, and the workforce was paid 20 percent less than comparable physical healthcare workers. “At King County, we envision a behavioral health system that is connected, accessible, and culturally responsive, and can meet the growing need for care,” said Executive Constantine. “None of this is possible without a strong workforce.”
Referencing a study by the research firm Milliman, which found rates for behavioral health providers must increase dramatically to cover their true costs, the DCHS project team conducted its own evaluation of provider revenue and expenditures and estimated that rate increases of 30 to 150 percent (depending on service type) were required to bring the region’s behavioral health system closer to the rate structure identified by Milliman.
To get more funds into the behavioral health system, the project team collaborated with the state and more than 40 behavioral health agencies and managed care organizations in the King County Integrated Care Network. In July 2023, King County announced an investment of $30 million in partnership with the managed care organizations in the network, resulting in a 15 percent Medicaid rate increase that will help providers increase salaries, address other workforce challenges, and bring more stability to the behavioral health system in our region.
“Investing in the infrastructure, collaborating with the state, and partnering with providers and workers will help create solutions that support people in crisis,” said Kelly Rider, director of the Department of Community and Human Services. “We are taking action on what is most urgently needed right now and have an opportunity to transform an aging system and restore a path to recovery.”
The Executive’s Best-Run Government Awards recognize individuals and project teams that are committed to improving the equity, efficiency, and effectiveness of how King County operates. “The DCHS team’s data-driven analysis of the problem, persistence in exploring solutions, and collaboration with those who are most affected perfectly aligns with our Executive branch values,” said Dwight Dively, director of the Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget and sponsor of the BRG Innovation Award for Cost.
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Three things we did to make contracting more equitable
By Office of Equity and Community Partnerships, Public Health – Seattle & King County
Sometimes systems that were intended to create fairness backfire. Organizations and vendors should have equal opportunity to bid for government contracts, so government agencies typically use Requests for Proposals (RFPs) in an attempt to open up contracting. But in reality, this process can add to disparity. For example, if you are a small organization or business, you probably don’t have dedicated staff who can easily respond to RFPs. Even for highly capable staff, it can be daunting and discouraging if you haven’t been through the process before or if you don’t meet criteria that were likely created for large organizations. The bureaucratic terminology is an additional barrier—especially if you are not a native speaker of English.
Not surprisingly, smaller community-based organizations often do not apply or are not selected for work that they are highly qualified to do. Long term, these government processes perpetually leave out people and communities because the right systems weren’t in place to include them.
“We need more community-led processes embedded within our administrative systems,” said Halima Lozano, grant manager in Public Health’s Office of Equity and Community Partnerships (OECP). “We are centering and co-creating with community more and more, but there is still a lot of work to do in our organization to break down barriers and make contracting more equitable.”
Time for a change
When the CDC awarded Public Health – Seattle & King County a COVID-19 & Health Equity grant in 2021, it provided $2 million in funding to support community-based organizations (CBOs) that have been working to address health disparities. The grant required an RFP process to get the funding to organizations so that they could continue their efforts, as well as build additional capacity to address persistent health inequities. In keeping with the intent of the grant, staff in the Office of Equity and Community Partnerships (OECP) made three types of improvements to the RFP process to make it more equitable and community-informed.
#1 Listen to the community partners.
In spring of 2023, Contracts, Procurement and Real Estate Services (CPRES) and OECP collaborated on an Equitable Contracting initiative. Along with Culture Shift Consulting, they held feedback sessions with community partners to develop a report of community recommendations. In addition, the team worked with a community advisory group to review drafts of the RFP and advise Public Health staff about how to adapt it to make the opportunity known as widely as possible among organizations who are qualified to do the work.
“[We] appreciate the support and opportunity to help create a community driven project built to fit community needs,” noted a member of the Community Advisory Group. “[Public Health] took the time to engage in active listening and discussion with community members on this.”
#2 Turn feedback into RFP improvements.
Building on their insight and feedback, OECP staff made the process more equitable through a number of improvements, including:
- Providing free technical assistance and interpretation for application writing;
- Reducing the minimum annual revenue required;
- Allowing small organizations to apply under a fiscal sponsor or coalition;
- Including community members in the application review panel; and
- Holding information sessions in multiple languages and promoting RFP in community and multilingual media.
Twenty-nine of the 32 applicants were able to partake in the application technical assistance, and the equity improvements resulted in stronger applications.
“For this RFP, we received a large number of high quality applications from a much broader pool of organizations,” said Saba Al-Harazi, CPRES community contracting manager. “It really speaks to how a more level playing field is possible when you remove barriers created by a lack of experience and language differences.”
#3 Extra support in managing grant funding for small community organizations
Based on community recommendations and findings, grant awardees received supports to help develop the capacity needed for federally-funded grant projects, including:
- training in financial management specific to working with federal requirements;
- continued coaching; and
- technical assistance throughout the project.
“We felt supported with our program manager following up with us on a regular basis and answering all of our questions immediately,” said one awardee. “We hope that this model of contract monitoring would be a standard for all Public Health contracts.”
What’s next
The contracts are coming to an end, and the team has created several opportunities for awardees to provide feedback to our Contracting Equity team, part of the CDC Public Health Infrastructure Grant. This team is working to prioritize and enact more equitable contracting processes, based on the community input last year, in collaboration with their community-led Equity Contracting Governance Group. This work was just a start for Public Health building momentum for equitable county processes.
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Keeping KCCF orderly and fun: Ting Chou marks 25 years with King County
By Christina Lorella Kuzu, Communications Specialist with the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention
Pictured: Ting receiving the award for his 25 years of service from the County Executive on May 7, 2024.
You can find Ting Chou at the King County Correctional Facility (KCCF) every Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon, making sure officers and residents get what they need. From stocking supplies to fulfilling resident kites (a written request from a person in custody), his role as a records unit support clerk is important to jail operations.
Ting also makes it his unofficial duty to guarantee that coworkers don’t take themselves too seriously.
“We know when he’s NOT here,” Sergeant Todd Wheeler shared when describing Ting’s contagious personality and freewheeling sense of humor.
That’s because Ting’s visits come with a whole lot of laughter, “hey buddies,” and fun-spirited conversation. And if you’re lucky, a nickname. That’s just who Ting is.
Ting referred to Sgt. Wheeler as his “Big Dog” noting that they “go way back.”During a recent interaction, the two bantered, sharing jokes and laughs, before getting back to work; a typical interaction between Ting and his peers. At the start of his shift, Ting heads up to the fifth floor, where he stocks essential items Commanding Officers will need before they hit the floor.
Pictured: Ting sorting documents for officers.
He then focuses his attention on what, to the untrained eye, may look like an overwhelming number of documents. For Ting and his impeccable memory and attention to detail, the forms have become second nature.
Each day, Ting confirms that there are enough kites, forms and supplies available for the day and keeps everything organized and tidy so that officers can quickly find what they need.
On Thursdays, he checks inventory. “I make sure forms are stocked to make sure we have enough and don’t run out for the next shift,” Ting said.
When finished, Ting returns to his “office” in the mailroom, his home away from home.
It’s there where he helps with resident mail, filing records, and, a new task, sorting kites.
He reviews each kite submitted by residents, categorizing each of the documents according to need. For example, when a resident asks for reading glasses, Ting looks at the resident’s submission and provides them with glasses according to requested strength.
Ting then brings the completed kites back to the fifth floor, where he either distributes them directly to the appropriate supervising staff member or places the documents in their mailbox so that the process can be finalized.
These jobs, from start to finish, are essential to jail operations.
Perhaps even more important is what Ting does for facility morale.
Pictured: Ting and the record units staff enjoying a celebration together in 2019.
All those trips back and forth between the floors are not just helping KCCF run efficiently. Ting brings a sense of positivity and lightheartedness to KCCF that staff not only appreciate but look forward to.
“Bacon Popcorn,” known to most as Commander Bacon, got his nickname after bringing Ting some bacon-flavored popcorn. Like Sgt. Wheeler, Cmdr. Bacon considers Ting both a member of his staff and a friend.
When asked his favorite part of the job, Ting answered without hesitation: the people.
He clearly has a strong attachment to his peers, and is especially grateful for his long-time supervisor, Andrea Williams, with whom he shares a love of drawing and painting. He had nothing but wonderful things to say about Andrea and mentioned that coming in to chat with her was one of the things he enjoys most about his role. His nickname for her, not surprisingly, is “Angel.”
Pictured: Ting and his supervisor Andrea Williams share a love of drawing and painting.
For the holidays and on special occasions, he often surprises Andrea and other friends and family with artwork that he has created, and his creativity is plentiful. Ting, who is also fluent in Mandarin, is clearly a man of many talents.
Another peer Ting shares a close bond with is Officer Nathan Kile, whom he affectionally calls “Bowling Ball” because of his bald head. Officer Kile, who works Court Detail, jokes that if he is “Bowling Ball,” Ting must be “Soccer Ball” because the two share the same shiny quality.
Whenever Ting sees Officer Kile in the hallways of KCCF, he is not shy to yell out, “Sttttttrrrrrrrrike!”
The two have become so close that Kile introduced Ting to his wife, who have similar birthdays. Each year, the couple picks Ting up from his home and takes him out to a celebratory dinner.
Despite his incredible eye for detail and ability to keep things in order, Ting critiqued one organizational system at the jail that he wasn’t particularly fond of—the numbering system for filing booking packets. If he could choose one thing about his job that he could change or eliminate, his answer was quite clear—”those @$#!%@ booking packets.”
If given the opportunity to be boss for the day, Ting knew exactly what he would do. He would give everyone a “big paycheck and he would bring in some good food.” There was no question about it. It’s no wonder Ting has so many friends; he is always thinking of how he can help others and make their lives better.
Prior to his eight years at KCCF, Ting spent 17 years at the Juvenile Division, where he worked in the kitchen. While he said he missed the people, he “did not miss washing the dishes.” Fair enough, Ting, fair enough. He much preferred his office tasks and the ability to make a significant difference by supporting officers, making life a little easier for jail residents, and giving back to his community as a public servant.
Just last month, Ting was honored by Executive Dow Constantine at an award ceremony for his 25 years of service and for his exceptional contributions both to the department and to King County.
The next time you see Ting around KCCF, be sure to congratulate him on an outstanding quarter century of service for DAJD and maybe even sprinkle in some birthday wishes for a happy 45th birthday on June 18!
As so many of his peers have echoed, KCCF would not be the same without Ting and all that he does for both operations and morale. We could not feel more grateful to have him on our team!
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Discount tickets for the Taste Northwest
The Taste Northwest is back! King county employees can enjoy food, fun, and entertainment at discounted prices.
Go to TheFair.com/Corporate, click ‘Buy Tickets Online’, then enter the access password: king24.
Note: Enter your log in twice – once to access and once at check out. You will not see your discount until you enter the code at check out. The code is the same for each entry.
See all available discounts on the Employee Discount webpage.
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Kelly Rider appointed Director of the Department of Community and Human Services
Executive Constantine has appointed Kelly Rider Director of the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS).
Since February, Kelly has served as Acting Director of DCHS and previously served as Chief of Staff, where she oversaw legislative efforts, policy development, strategic partnerships, and investments in our region.
In her seven years with DCHS, Rider has built lasting relationships with human services providers and jurisdictions across King County, and helped advance key initiatives, including Health Through Housing and the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services levy, renewed for a fourth time last year. Read more.
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King County adding Wilburton Trestle to Eastrail
A public-private partnership that includes Washington’s Climate Commitment Act, Amazon, the City of Bellevue, Kaiser Permanente, and the King County Parks Levy started transforming the 120-year-old Wilburton Trestle into a trail bridge that will be added to the emerging 42-mile Eastrail.
“We’ve built strong partnerships to transform the historic Wilburton Trestle into a trail bridge for Eastrail,” said Executive Constantine. “Creating a regional trail that offers healthy, reliable, scenic connections to some of the world’s leading job centers, vibrant cities, and light rail service demonstrates what we can achieve when we align public and private investments to achieve shared goals.” Read more.
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Natural Resources and Parks’ Recruitment Standards Project receives Innovation Award for People
Like many organizations today, King County is facing challenges in filling vacant positions amid shortages in the labor market and fierce competition for talent.
In addition, the County’s commitment to Equity, Racial, and Social Justice means that embedding pro-equity practices into its processes is crucial in advancing these efforts.
The Human Resources team in the Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP) realized that it could be more effective in bringing much-needed talent on board if it could speed up the recruiting process and build equity practices into every step of the process.
These efforts have been recognized with the 2023 Best-Run Government Innovation Award for People. Read more.
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Hazardous Waste Management Program’s Annual Report
The Annual Report highlights the Hazardous Waste Management Program’s services, accomplishments, and financial status for 2023. Read about how the Program reduced toxic exposures, held product makers and sellers responsible, and put innovation into action.
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