Celebrating 10 years of helping youth with disabilities find jobs
With more than 1,100 students served over 10 years, King County’s School-to-Work program has plenty of reasons to celebrate. On October 12, 2015, as part of National Disability Employment Awareness month, the Department of Community and Human Services Developmental Disabilities Division celebrated 10 successful years of the program and 1,136 students served by hosting a gathering of partners and stakeholders at the Southcenter Double Tree. “The School-to-Work Program helps youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout King County seek and gain employment prior to exiting their high school transition programs,” Richard Wilson,… Read More
Breaking down job barriers for people with disabilities
October is Disability Awareness Month and King County is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and 25 years of hiring people with developmental disabilities into the work place. In 1990, the King County Council created the Supported Employment Program in response to the issue of employment inequity for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Supported Employment Program matches job seekers with developmental disabilities to jobs by identifying efficiencies and unmet needs throughout King County government. One of those employees is Brooke, a mail clerk with King… Read More
Healthy Local Eating coming to Healthy Incentives
King County’s Healthy Incentives program will begin a new pilot project in 2016 designed to help employees reduce their healthcare costs and support local farmers. The Healthy Local Eating pilot project, which will be implemented in two stages over 2016 and 2017, will offer employees the opportunity to reduce their out-of-pocket healthcare costs by purchasing locally grown fruits and vegetables through the Healthy Incentives employee wellness program. “We’re building on the success of our wellness program by providing employees and their families an extra incentive to support local farmers,” said Executive Constantine…. Read More
Environmental Lab protects local waters and public health
With more and more people enjoying water activities across our region each year, the work of the King County Environmental Laboratory is more important than ever in protecting the health of local waterways, wildlife and people. With five different lab areas, Lab employees are constantly collecting samples, analyzing environmental samples and generating data to protect the environment and those that live in it, Kate Leone, the Environmental Programs Section Manager, said. Unlike other laboratories, the Lab is a full service lab, meaning it runs through all the steps, from project planning, sample collection and testing, through to data generation. It processes… Read More
Untapped Potential: Behavioral Health Employment Program helps individuals with disabilities join the workforce
At a recent employment resource fair, staff from the King County Behavioral Health Supported Employment Program ran into Tiffany Turner, a graduate of the program. Tiffany now works full time as a manager at the Recovery Café, a community of support for individuals who have experienced trauma, mental health and/or substance use issues. As a single parent of three children, Turner had many challenges trying to raise her children with limited resources or support from others. She found herself overwhelmed and unaware of the symptoms of her illness or how to use… Read More
Watching out for salmon in King County Waters
It’s that time of year again. The time when King County’s many creeks and rivers begin to receive colourful salmon for their spawning season. Each fall, several salmon species make their way from the ocean into the Puget Sound and into King County’s urban and rural streams to lay their eggs. It is an amazing natural process, Jennifer Vanderhoof said. As a senior ecologist for DNRP’s Watershed and Ecological Assessment, Vanderhoof coordinates a volunteer program to monitor salmon in the Lake Washington Watershed, called the Salmon Watcher Program. A multijurisdictional effort, the… Read More
Breaking down language barriers to make King County accessible to all
Imagine not understanding public service announcements or not being able to call an information line because they are not offered in your language. It is a problem that many King County residents face and something the Office of Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) and Customer Service Officers are trying to change. An Executive Order already requires printed public communications pieces and vital documents for broad distribution to be translated into at least Spanish, but the Office of ESJ and county agencies have been developing and implementing new ways to interact with the community and provide information. One approach is working with ethnic media, such as the… Read More
CASA program needs volunteers
Each year in King County, more than 12,000 children are separated from their families due to abuse or neglect. With the support of foster programs, many of the children are placed in foster care for the time being their parents are in court. But who represents the children in court? Court Appointed Special Advocates are trained volunteers who represent the children and their best interests during the legal process. “We say that a CASA is the voice of the child,” Pamela Beatty, a CASA volunteer said. “We do the speaking for the… Read More
Fun Fest teaches teamwork, cooperation and more to detained youth
As part of King County Juneteenth celebrations, King County Juvenile Detention threw a Fun Fest for youth detained in the facility. For the youth, it was an opportunity to expand their learning during the break between school sessions. For those volunteering, it was opportunity to teach young people different life lessons. Spanning three days, Fun Fest offered three different programs for youth to participate in, picking one that interested them. The most popular was the Football Camp, which taught the youth the importance of teamwork and trust as well as football fundamentals…. Read More
Volunteer policy helps parents give back to schools
One Tuesday in February, Jeff Switzer went back to school with his two sons as part of a King County program that allows employees to volunteer at local schools. Dressed in a white t-shirt with the WATCH D.O.G.S logo on the front, he picked up his itinerary for the day from school officials and made his way to the cafeteria to help feed students on reduced priced meals. Switzer, a Public Affairs Coordinator for King County Department of Transportation, was using one of his allowed school volunteer sick leave days. The code – School Volunteer Leave, section 14.5 in the… Read More
Employee News 