King County introduces new medical plan option for employees in 2018
Crossposted from Healthy Incentives
For the first time in more than 10 years, King County employees have a new medical plan option in 2018: KingCare Select. Employees who choose KingCare Select will choose one of four Accountable Health Networks (AHNs) in the Puget Sound region. An accountable health network is a group of health care professionals working as a team to provide affordable, high-quality health care.
The four Accountable Health Networks are:
- Eastside Health Network (EvergreenHealth Partners-Overlake)
- The Everett Clinic
- MultiCare Connected Care™
- UW Medicine
Read more at Healthy Incentives
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Honoring our military veterans
Dear fellow King County employee,
King County Executive Dow Constantine
Every year, our nation comes together to salute the men and women who answered the call of duty to serve in our nation’s armed forces. To protect and preserve our freedoms, they placed their lives in harm’s way, often thousands of miles from home and family.
Among the more than 112,550 veterans who call King County home are 1,054 men and women with whom we work every day – fellow employees in every branch and every department in King County. Over the past year, 92 of those employees have been called to Active or Reserve duty.
Veterans Day is our opportunity to thank all of these patriots and colleagues for their service, and this Veterans Day King County is recognizing our employee military veterans and reservists with a specially designed bronzed lapel pin as a symbol of our ongoing appreciation.
I am proud to say that here, in King County, we do more than just voice appreciation to our local heroes: we demonstrate our respect through action. Tuesday’s election returns show overwhelming support from our community for the renewal and expansion of our Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy. Thanks to that funding, our King County Veterans Program is able to connect veterans and their families to housing, emergency assistance and job training. The levy also supports our King County Vets 4 HIRE Program, providing veterans with a broad range of internship opportunities.
With the support of the voters, we are committed to helping every veteran in King County successfully transition from their military service to a productive and fulfilling civilian life.
That’s our duty.
Veterans Day is November 11. Please join me in a moment of thanks to all of our veterans, active duty personnel and their families. We are forever grateful for their contributions, service and sacrifice.
Sincerely,
Dow Constantine
King County Executive
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Twenty-two employees celebrated at Bridge Fellowship ceremony
The 22 graduates from the 2017-2018 Bridge Fellowship Program were recognized at a ceremony attended by more than 100 colleagues, family, friends, and senior leaders last week at the King Street Center in Seattle.
The Bridge Fellowship is an intensive leadership development program designed to enhance participants’ leadership skills and knowledge of County systems and operations, and advance their professional development and King County careers.
“The Bridge Fellowship Program is a big part of my Investing in You strategy for King County,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said at the event. “It’s about offering opportunities for growth and advancement, no matter where you work, what you do or where you are in your career. It brings together employees from diverse backgrounds to learn, advance and improve the lives of our residents.”
Watch this video about the graduation with short interviews with some of this year’s participants.
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All Are Welcome Here
Crossposted from Metro Matters
As King County Metro grows and changes in our role as the regional mobility provider, there’s something we’ll never leave behind: our commitment to keeping Metro safe and welcoming for everyone who uses our services or works here. The recent terrible events in Texas, New York City and elsewhere are grim reminders of how important that commitment is.
New signs you’ll see on our buses for the long term reflect our promise to always look out for one another. They assure customers that “all are welcome here,” regardless of race, color, religion, gender, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, disability or national origin. They make it clear that harassment won’t be tolerated.
Metro’s policy is unchanged, but we’ve renewed our energy and commitment to help address problems when they are identified by riders, either through our drivers or directly through law enforcement via 911.
Read more at Metro Matters
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Honoring King County employees who continue to serve our community
This weekend, we will pay tribute to those who served our country in uniform. Veterans Day allows each of us a chance to reflect on the sacrifices these men and women made to keep our nation safe and free. No matter where or when they served, we all owe a debt to our military veterans.
As a small token of appreciation, throughout this month King County managers and supervisors will present a special “Veterans” pin to employees who served or are serving in the U.S. armed forces, active duty or reserve. We appreciate the leadership and perspectives that veterans bring to our workforce, and we appreciate their continued willingness to serve the public. The pin is circular, in bronzed nickel, includes the King County logo and has “Veteran” written on it. We hope every King County veteran wears the pin proudly.
If you served or are currently serving in the US armed forces and did not receive a pin during the month of November, please inquire with your supervisor about obtaining one.
We also encourage all employees who are veterans and reservists to update their PeopleSoft information to include their military status. To do so, login into PeopleSoft, click “Personal Details,” and then “Military Status” to verify that your military status is accurately listed in the system.
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Technology helps employees succeed on Day One
King County wants new employees to have everything they need to get to work on day one. To make that happen, King County Information Technology, Human Resources Division and Business Resource Center partnered to integrate the County’s PeopleSoft system with our new process called Digital ID.
This new process ensures new employees have their IT equipment, access (workstation login, email account, Skype etc), feel welcome and productive, on day one.
Here’s how it works: once an offer is accepted, the new employee is entered into PeopleSoft. This information triggers teams at KCIT to deliver a work station with a network account, email, Skype credentials ready for the first day of work. Similarly, when an employee leaves County service and employment status is updated in PeopleSoft, access to all accounts is immediately terminated.
“First impressions are important and research shows 86 percent of employees decide whether they’ll stay at their current place of employment based on how they’re treated in the first 90 days,” said Tanya Hannah, Interim Chief Information Officer. “KCIT is part of that welcome team. We want technology to be seamless, working and ready to go.”
This process also saves money and time by freeing up three FTEs who can now focus on more complex IT issues instead of the steady stream of Help Tickets associated with onboarding new employees.
“This phase of Digital ID is just the first step,” added Hannah. “We look forward to delivering more of this type of automation at a faster pace in 2018 to improve the customer experience and deliver systems that are more reliable and more secure.”
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Recovery Place Seattle at Beacon Hill offers integrated treatment options for people with mental health and substance use disorders
Shared from the DCHS Touching Base Newsletter
Recovery Place Seattle at Beacon Hill, operated by Valley Cities Behavioral Health Care, will be the first detox facility in King County to offer treatment for co-occurring disorders. The new treatment facility opened its doors for a community open house on Oct. 18 and a media event and tour on Oct. 19. King County contributed $1 million in capital funds for the new detox facility that will offer integrated treatment for mental health and substance use disorder – including opioid addiction – that prioritizes bed space for people who are homeless.
The facility located in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood will offer 33 detox beds and 40 intensive inpatient treatment beds. It will welcome residents who are at the City of Seattle’s Navigation Center, a dormitory-style facility for people who are homeless and need treatment for substance use disorder.
In addition to prioritizing beds for people who are at the Navigation Center, the staff will coordinate with county-funded outreach teams that engage with people who are homeless to connect them to the integrated treatment they need to transition to safe, permanent housing.
Beginning in early November, the staff at Recovery Place will provide detoxification, medication-assisted treatment, residential treatment and recovery services for people who are homeless and people who earn a lower income who also face mental health crisis, substance use disorder, and/or opioid addiction.
A secure detox facility in Kent, also being developed by Valley Cities, will open next year.
For more information, view this press release from Valley Cities.
To learn more about what DCHS is doing in our community, read the most recent issue of the Touching Base Newsletter (on SharePoint).
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Kelly Washington wins 2017 Northwest Regional CIT Award
Shared from the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention’s SharePoint site
Pictured: Corrections Technician Kelly Washington at work in KCCF.
On Oct. 4, DAJD Corrections Technician Kelly Washington won the Non-Commissioned Staff of the Year award at the 7th Annual Northwest Regional Crisis Intervention Team Conference, held in Bend OR.
This was the first year for this particular award, and Kelly bested the competition with her outstanding work with the general public and her work with the inmate population.
Kelly’s nomination letter said, “She is the beating heart of the intake, transfer and release section of the King County Jail. She keeps our moral up and is good for our operations in just about everything she does. She is greatly loved by staff and co-workers, and even the inmates like her. I can’t think of a better more deserving person to be recognized by King County.”
Congratulations Kelly Washington on this outstanding accomplishment and recognition!
Several other DAJD team members were also nominated for Northwest Regional Crisis Intervention Team awards this year:
- Officer Brandon Johnson, 2017 CIT Corrections Officer of the Year nominee
- Officer Yuliya Hall, 2017 CIT Corrections Officer of the Year nominee
- Officer Roy Sprague, 2017 CIT Corrections Officer of the Year nominee
- Officer Justin Poe, 2017 Crisis Intervention Team Instructor/Trainer of the Year nominee
“I was complimented by conference attendees in the number of nominees DAJD received and the work that is done on a daily basis in the jail,” said Sgt. Dean Owens, who attended the conference in Oregon.
Congratulations to all of the DAJD staff members recognized by the Northwest Regional Crisis Intervention Team for your excellent work!
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Kudos! Graduation day for new Metro drivers!
Crossposted from Metro Matters
Congratulations to our 20 newest part-time drivers! They’ve completed training and will be carrying riders starting Monday, Oct. 30. They join the ranks of 2,800 (and growing) part- and full-time professional transit operators who keep our community and economy moving!
New members of the King County Metro family: (pictured) David, Charito, Veronica, Najea, Shukri, Amos, Alex, Zachary, Said, Eli, Peter, Jashua, Jeremy, Oliver, Brandi, Va, Teshim, Mamo, Le’Ray and Kulwant.
Read more at Metro Matters
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Social Media Spotlight: EnviroStars Facebook
EnviroStars is a one-stop shop for Washington businesses to learn, get help, and get recognized for protecting the environment and public health. The program unifies green business initiatives in the region and across all environmental areas—including energy and water conservation, pollution prevention, and the reduction of toxics, waste, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Follow EnviroStars on Facebook today!
Click here to view all King County social media pages.
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