Spike in King County flu cases
Crossposted from Public Health Insider Influenza is hitting hard in King County. We caught up with Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County, to get his take on the flu season so far. What kind of levels of flu are you seeing in King County right now? Over the past two weeks we’ve seen flu activity take off with marked increases in positive laboratory tests for flu and people seeking medical care. The number of people seen at hospital emergency departments with flu-like illnesses to-date is more… Read More
County launches Youth and Family Homelessness Prevention Initiative with grants to 27 local agencies; Executive also announces $41M for affordable housing and homeless services
Shared from the DCHS Touching Base Newsletter The first strategy funded by Best Starts for Kids, the Youth and Family Homelessness Prevention Initiative (YFHPI), was formally launched at a news event on Dec. 15 at Mother Africa in Kent, one of the 27 agencies selected through a competitive process to administer $4 million in funds in the community. The new initiative is designed to help families on the verge of being homeless. The individualized approach is based on a highly successful pilot project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Agencies… Read More
2016 Employee Giving Drive sets new record!
The Employee Giving Program’s Annual Giving Drive was a great success! King County employees donated $1,906,726.09, exceeding the goal of $1.82 million and besting the 2015 drive by nearly $150,000! Additionally, we welcomed more than 625 New Connections. This is the largest increase in dollars in more than 15 years. The Executive’s office led by example, with a 61% team participation rate. King County Council followed with 39% of Council employees contributing. More than 800 nonprofits received a pledge including favorites such as Northwest Harvest, the SHERRIF Fund, and Regional Animal Services…. Read More
Public service in action
When you think of government or public service, do you think of a white-domed building in Washington, DC, or Olympia? Or maybe your local government office, regional park, or nearest health clinic? The words “public service in action” make me think of blue crystals on a sidewalk. Here’s why. On a recent morning, after navigating the icy, snow-dusted streets in my neighborhood to get to work, I arrived to find sidewalks near the Chinook building in downtown Seattle covered in sparkly, blue, deicer crystals, making it safe for the hundreds of employees… Read More
Tech Tip: Beware phishing and spam emails
KCIT is seeing an increase in phishing and spam emails being delivered to King County employees. This is not an uncommon occurrence this time of year. “Bad guys” like to use the holiday period to target organizations like ours. KCIT would like to remind you that phishing is an attempt to obtain information from you which gives outsiders access to King County systems. Remember, if you receive an email asking you to provide any information, especially your login name and password, this could be phishing and you should be suspicious. In addition,… Read More
Happy New Year: A time you may embrace
We wish all our employees a safe and joyous Happy New Year, full of exciting moments and wonderful opportunities! As The Byrds said, there is a time for everything, so enjoy this new season and the chance to start a new.
White Center Teen Program: 25 years of burnt toast, ballin’ and being awesome
Crossposted from King County Parks Plog This year, King County Parks’ White Center Teen Program (WCTP), which takes place at the “Log Cabin” (a.k.a. White Center Community Center) at Steve Cox Memorial Park, has been commemorating its silver anniversary (that’s 25 years, for you non-Hallmark card-types!) with lots of reminiscing and festivities and a serious tallying up of some impressive accomplishments. Since its start in 1991, King County Parks’ White Center Teen Program (WCTP) has given White Center youth a safe, positive place to get involved in year-round recreation and educational programs… Read More
Kudos to the the Family Intervention and Restorative Services (FIRS) program!
Compared to the same nine-month period last year, juvenile domestic violence case filings have dropped 62% since the FIRS program launched in January 2016. The program, offers youth arrested for family violence incidents space at an overnight respite center instead of secure detention. FIRS staff offer de-escalation counseling to safely reunite youth with their family. At no cost to them, families are offered in-home family counseling, mental health services, drug and alcohol services, and the Step-Up Program, which specifically addresses adolescent family violence. Read more about the program and its success here.
Sixteen remarkable achievements of 2016
King County Executive Dow Constantine just released a slideshow of 16 accomplishments in 2016 which highlight some of the remarkable achievements of King County employees and community partners over the last 12 months. “Your professionalism and passion improves the quality of life in our region,” Executive Constantine said in an email message to employees. “Your good work creates public trust that gives us the opportunity to lead bold initiatives that make even greater progress on the most important issues of our generation, including social justice, climate change and mobility.” You can check out the slideshow of… Read More
Downtown blood drive also donates to Northwest Harvest
Friday, December 30, Bloodworks Northwest is holding a blood drive for the King County Chinook and Administrative buildings, with a special promotion. For the first 30 people that register to donate, Bloodworks Northwest, will give a pound of food for each registered donor to Northwest Harvest. That’s 30 pounds of food that will help our local community! Friday, December 30, 2016 – from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed noon to 1 p.m.) Your single blood donation will help patients in need and help feed community members during the holidays! Please consider donating. Click here to make an appointment. For questions about… Read More
Employee News 