Renewing King County’s commitment to veterans and helping the region’s growing senior population
King County Executive Dow Constantine today announced an initiative to strengthen the county’s capacity to connect veterans to opportunity, help veterans, seniors, and vulnerable populations gain or maintain affordable housing, and add new services to help the region’s rapidly growing senior population. If approved by voters in November, the Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy will replace the existing levy, which will expire Dec. 31. The current levy – which King County voters overwhelmingly renewed in 2011 – has connected hundreds of thousands of veterans, active service members and vulnerable populations to… Read More
Walk in the Shoes – Othello Encampment
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to join Walk in the Shoes of a County Employee winners Mary Dunbar and Della Lorenzen from Public Health – Seattle and King County for an afternoon on the job. Mary has been a social worker with the Kids Plus program in our Downtown Public Health Center for the past three and a half years. Della is a Personal Health Services Supervisor there. As part of the Health Care for the Homeless Network, their team of three social workers and two Public Health nurses are… Read More
Guidance for promoting access to benefits and services for immigrants
Some King County facilities qualify as Sensitive locations with the Department of Homeland Security. Some examples of sensitive locations are schools, hospitals, institutions of worship, and offices providing services for children, pregnant women, and victims of domestic abuse or individuals with significant mental or physical disabilities. The policy does not say that immigration agents cannot enter these locations, only that enforcement actions at these locations are discouraged and that immigration agents have to go through a supervisory review process before they are undertaken. King County is training our employees to be prepared… Read More
PRIDE is coming June 25
“Whether you arrived here last week or whether you’ve lived here for five generations, you belong here” – King County Executive Dow Constantine Please join King County Executive Dow Constantine and other colleagues, friends and family as we walk in the Pride Parade on Sunday, June 25. Bring yourself, your family, your friends and enjoy the parade together! As always, there will be fabulous t-shirts available for order soon for about $10 with our theme for this year: We ALL Belong Here. Want to be up on all of the Pride information?… Read More
From the Hip: Laura Inveen, Presiding Judge, King County Superior Court
Spotlight on Jason Clark, Superior Court Equity and Justice Advocate As Presiding Judge of Superior Court, I was asked to write about the court. We have a lot going on, so it was a tough choice. After giving it some thought, the work being done by Jason Clark, our Equity and Justice Advocate rose to the top. Jason’s work is wide-ranging. He’s responsible for developing community-building and engagement strategies, for planning and policy/program development, and for general planning support for projects related to reducing racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice… Read More
Executive unveils stronger community-centered response for youth and families in crisis
Crossposted from King County Youth Justice King County Executive Dow Constantine announced new options for parents, youth, school personnel and local law enforcement that will divert and reduce the number of youth who come into contact with the courts and detention facilities. The “Safe Spaces” proposal connects youth who may have traditionally gone into the criminal justice system to community-based alternatives that provide supports and crisis stabilization that were previously unavailable. Youth and families can access counseling, healthcare, treatment for mental health or substance abuse, short-term crisis beds, education and mentoring and… Read More
Executive Constantine thanks DNRP employees for becoming “carbon neutral”
King County Executive Dow Constantine today congratulated Department of Natural Resources and Parks employees for helping DNRP become King County’s first “Carbon Neutral” agency. Dear DNRP employee, Earth Week is a great chance to congratulate every Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP) employee for helping DNRP become King County’s first “Carbon Neutral” agency! Please watch the video linked here (also available below) from DNRP Director Christie True and me, thanking employees not only for helping DNRP reduce and remove more greenhouse gas emissions than it generates, but doing it a year ahead of… Read More
From the Hip: Caroline Whalen, Director of Executive Services
Employee engagement is job #1 When Dow Constantine and Fred Jarrett asked me to serve as director of the Department of Executive Services (DES) seven years ago, I frankly was overwhelmed. How could I move out of operations and project management to lead the diverse set of agencies that make up DES? I told them, “I’m the person you put in a black suit and throw out of the helicopter with a specific mission, not the person in the planning room overseeing the operation.” But, they had confidence in me to make… Read More
Listening to employees to build a learning organization
Access to learning and advancement opportunities was a major theme in the 2016 Employee Survey so King County Executive Dow Constantine invited some employees to his latest Listening Session to hear about the challenges and successes employees face in growing their knowledge and careers at King County. “I want employees to be able to learn new skills so we can not only get better at what we do and serve our customers better, but you can also take advantage of opportunities to advance,” Executive Constantine told the group. “I want to hear… Read More
State of the County: Executive Constantine announces focus on healthy aging, new reception centers for youth
In his eighth State of the County address, Executive Dow Constantine introduced the theme: you belong here. Noting that 40 percent of the region’s population increase since 2010 has been from people not born in the country, Executive Constantine said the region’s diversity was one of its greatest assets. “All these people came here to seek a better life but they are making all of our lives better,” said Executive Constantine, speaking at the Auburn Community and Event Center. Read more here and view the video below.
Employee News 