Kudos! Heartfelt thank you from outgoing King County Veterans Fellow
Veteran Fellow Kaleena Welch
This email came from Kaleena Welch, a Veterans Fellow who is wrapping up her time with King County. She wanted to express her gratitude and how King County was able to successfully help her transition from military to civilian life.
Good Morning All,
I am emailing you to let you know that tomorrow Thursday November 10, 2016 will be my last day working for King County Stormwater Services Section.
I want to thank you all for making my time here memorable, valuable, and successful. My transition from the U.S. Army was not easy, but through the Vets 4 Hire program I was able to adjust back into society with ease.
I cannot express how important this program is, and how important it was to have a team around me that was supportive and in my corner the entire time.
A special thank you to Susan Navetski and Mary Rabourn especially, these two women will always have my eternal gratitude.
I would also like to thank my Supervisor Doug Navetski, my team members Jessica Engel, Blair Scott, Kyle Masters and Jeanne Dorn for working with me day to day and helping me strive.
I would also like to thank everyone involved in the Vets 4 Hire program, the STORM committee, Futurewise, the many divisions I worked with in King County, local cities and of course the entire WLRD family.
I have learned a lot about myself, and I have a new found confidence that I will be taking to my new job with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Once again thank you for taking this Veteran and helping her transition, there are many ways to help your veterans and this is one of them.
With love,
Kaleena Raquel Welch
King County Communications Specialist | King County Veterans Fellow
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Serving those who’ve served
King County is helping local military veterans make the transition from military to civilian life through its model Veterans Services program.
More than 127,000 veterans of the U.S. Military live in King County and, since the 1950s, the County has made it a priority to serve those who’ve served. Early on, the County’s programs provided services to indigent disabled and homeless veterans with funds provided by Revised Code of Washington 73.08.010, which authorized a dedicated property tax as a source of funding. Continuing in that tradition, the residents of King County passed the Veterans and Human Services Levy in 2005, and renewed it for six more years in 2011. With the levy, additional resources were made available to address the needs of low-income veterans, military personnel and their families – including families of men and women who are currently deployed.
According to Richard Garmong, King County Veterans Program Business Outreach Coordinator (and manager of the County’s annual King County Veterans Career Expo), the biggest challenge with servicing veterans is that “most don’t know either who to ask or where to go for help.” Adding to the challenge, many veterans are hesitant to ask for help.
The services the County provides are intended to better educate veterans, and cushion the changes veterans experience while transitioning to civilian life.
The County works with federal and state veterans programs to provide connectivity not only to employers, but also to community veterans programs – including services to address basic needs when necessary.
King County’s Veterans Program (KCVP) addresses those needs through a number of tailored programs, including Case Management, Outreach, Shelter and Housing, Financial Assistance, and Employment Services.
Case Management: With the Levy, the KCVP moved to a case management model. Rather than providing a veteran in need with assistance for housing and utilities, a model to support longer-lasting changes in a veteran’s life were implemented. Three primary focus areas were designed to help move these veterans toward a more self-sufficient life style; housing, stabilization, and employment and education. An electronic client records system was created to support the program, and it allows tracking of assessments and monitoring of client progress on identified goals. At intake and every six months, an assessment evaluates particular needs along a number of domains, including housing, employment, income, life skills, mental health and substance abuse.
Outreach: The Levy allowed the KCVP to expand its geographic service area with a second office in Renton, and a business coordinator has been providing outreach to employers to connect veterans with employment opportunities.
Shelter and Housing: The Program contracts with the Salvation Army’s William Booth Center to provide 40 shelter beds for male veterans who do not have stable housing arrangements. The Center provides a clean, safe and drug-free living environment that supports clients as they work their case plan goals and secure permanent housing. Priority placement is given to employed and work-ready veterans.
KCVP also contracts with the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program and the Compass Center. The latter includes four beds for female veterans, and the center’s services support case management, computer training and additional support through the VA Medical Center. The KCVP social worker coordinates services and housing for veterans in these programs.
Additionally, the KCVP assists eligible veterans in obtaining Section 8 housing vouchers, allowing a person to pay 30 percent of their income toward rent and utilities. The program partners with the King County Housing Authority to provide two vouchers each month.
Financial Assistance: The emphasis of the KCVP under the new Levy is to now provide holistic case management services. However, traditional short-term financial assistance continues to be used as a tool to help support eligible veterans. Some of the ways this assistance is used includes housing, utilities, food vouchers, work-related expenses, medical expenses and employment services.
Employment Services: With the success of the Levy-funded Activity 2.6C: Aerospace and Veterans Employment Training Initiative, Levy dollars continue to allow KCVP employment services out of the KCVP Office at WorkSource Renton. These best practices services include resume assistance, job counseling and placement, career testing and skills assessment. Counselors and clients complete an assessment and develop a plan; which may include removing initial barriers to employment. The service continues for up to one year after job placement, supporting employment retention and wage progression.
The County also created its Vets 4 HIRE Fellowship Program to support military servicemembers and veterans in making successful transitions from military to civilian employment, and to provide a pipeline of skilled veteran talent for positions within King County.
Additionally, the County has now held three annual career expos for veterans and military spouses. WorkSource, King County Veteran Services and the Washington State Convention Center collaborate each year to bring these job seekers and more than 120 area private- and public-sector employers together at the Convention Center.
The County’s Veterans Services web site provides program plans and reports, detailed eligibility information, contact information for both the Seattle and Renton offices, and information about applying for services. Help us spread the word!
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Featured Job: Wastewater Construction Management IV
Closing Date/Time: Wed. 11/09/16 11:59 PM Pacific Time
Salary: $41.57 – $52.69 Hourly, $86,465.60 – $109,595.20 Annually
Job Type: Career Service, Full Time, 40 hrs/week
Location: Multiple locations in King County, Washington
Department: Department of Natural Resources & Parks – Wastewater Treatment Division
Description: This position will plan, organize and supervise the administration and inspection of specific construction projects, ensure compliance with plans, specifications, code and relevant regulatory laws, and direct the work of the inspectors. It will also provide inspection information to capital projects and conduct inspections of conveyance systems and other facilities, and provide technical assistance in the planning and design stages of wastewater construction projects.
Learn more about this position or view all available jobs.
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Social Media Spotlight: All Home Facebook
All Home (formerly the Committee to End Homelessness) is a community-wide partnership to make homelessness in King County rare, brief and one-time. We bring together local governments, religious institutions, non-profits, philanthropic organizations, shelter and housing providers, the private sector and engaged citizens in a coordinated effort that both responds to the immediate crisis of homeless individuals and addresses the root causes of the problem in our region.
Like All Home on Facebook today!
Click here to view all King County social media pages.
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Kudos! Awesome Metro driver makes sure child gets home safe
This appreciative parent submitted a commendation for Bonita Johnson, a King County Metro driver who went the extra mile to make sure all her passengers, including this young man, got home safe. This parent says:
Hello, I am writing to let you know about the excellent customer service my son and I received by one of your drivers. My 12 year old missed his stop and became lost. The driver let him use her phone and when she got to the end of the bus line kept him with her and brought him back to his stop. She went above and beyond the call of duty and it was a relief to know he was in good hands.
Kudos to Bonita for waiting with this boy to be sure he was safe and sound!
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RASKC on Univision: Adopting a pet (story no. 4)
Crossposted from Tails from RASKC
This is the fourth of nine segments which Univision Seattle, KUNS Channel 51, is proudly airing on Wednesdays at 6pm and 11pm. This segment is focused on adopting a pet. Learn more about RASKC’s stories on Univision.
For more information:
- About RASKC featured stories on Univision
- Watch RASKC on Univision: Saving lives (story no.1)
- Watch RASKC on Univision: Pet licensing (story no.2)
- Watch RASKC on Univision: Pet disaster preparedness (story no. 3)
Read more at Tails from RASKC
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Tech Tip: What’s in a name: Skype, Skype for Business and Lync
King County uses a Unified Communications system (UC) for internal and external communications. It replaced the old telephony system. (yes, that’s a word. “Telephony is the technology associated with the electronic transmission of voice, fax, or other information between distant parties using systems historically associated with the telephone, a handheld device containing both a speaker or transmitter and a receiver.”)
To provide clarity: Skype is the Microsoft consumer version for personal communications you use (for free or a small fee) to communicate with people. “Skype for Business” is Microsoft business version that King County’s uses. It is a more professional and robust version of its personal/consumer little sister. It has instant messaging, screen sharing, conference calls, voicemail, and shows whether someone is free to take calls or messages. Using Skype for Business for instant messaging keeps those quick, check-in emails out of your inbox and provides a free alternative to Webex or GoTo Meeting.
Lync is the old name for Skype for Business that will appear on devices like MAC products until Microsoft releases a Skype for Business client for that OS.
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Developmental Disabilities and Behavioral Health Legislative Forums
We have two upcoming legislative forums to identify legislative priorities for the coming year.
Developmental Disabilities Legislative Forum – The King County Board for Developmental Disabilities’ 27th annual Legislative Forum will take place on Monday, Nov. 21 at the DoubleTree Suites in Tukwila. This event is hosted by the King County Parent Coalition, a program of The Arc of King County. The King County Board for Developmental Disabilities will present the 2017 legislative agenda, focusing on issues important to the developmental disabilities system.
- Monday, November 21 at 6:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree Suites, 16500 Southcenter Parkway, Seattle
Behavioral Health Legislative Forum – The Behavioral Health Legislative Forum will take place Wednesday, Dec. 7 at Town Hall Seattle. This annual event brings our community together to celebrate recovery and connect with elected officials about key issues in mental health and substance abuse. The forum will include remarks from King County Executive Dow Constantine, Jim Vollendroff, BHRD director, sharing King County’s proposed legislative priorities for 2017, The compelling stories of people in recovery from mental illness and substance abuse and much more. Register here before the event fills up!
Wednesday, December 6 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave, Seattle
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A summer intern tells all
Crossposted from Lean in King County
This summer, after completing the first year of my MPA program at UW’s Evans School, I joined King County’s Performance, Strategy, and Budget Office (PSB) as a Line of Business (LoB) Intern. I wanted to learn about the county, get more connected to the region, and apply my Evans coursework in a meaningful way.
I’ve learned a great deal about my own strengths in graphic design and communication, about King County’s Lean management system, and about the way King County agencies collaborate and operate. I had so many questions about acronyms and definitions, about relationships between agencies and nuances of PSB’s work, and there were always people willing to answer them. The projects I worked on felt meaningful and useful, never trivial. To put it succinctly – this has been a fantastic internship.
Read more at Lean in King County
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Third annual free health clinic in Seattle/King County a success
KOMO news reported on how more than 900 individuals received free medical care at the clinic, which was held at KeyArena Thursday, October 27 through Sunday, October 30.
The clinic relied on over 1,000 volunteers to provide free dental, vision and medical care for almost 4,000 people.
Read more about this successful event in the article Massive effort to provide free health care gets underway at KeyArena, including a quote from King County Executive Dow Constantine.
Image courtesy of KOMO news
Employee News 