Crossposted from Cultivating Connections King County’s Department of Community & Human Services (DCHS) released new data highlighting the department’s transformative impact. Last year, DCHS reached more than 477,000 residents through services including affordable housing, behavioral health treatment, child care, education and employment opportunities for youth and young adults, support for veterans, and resources for people with developmental disabilities. For the first time, department-wide data includes all five divisions, giving a more comprehensive look at DCHS’ impact, including the location of funded services, where participants live, how services were accessed and investments made, among other findings. Read more.

Crossposted from Metro Matters Binder, paper, pens and pencils, calculator, backpack, ORCA Card! With school just around the corner, a useful item that also makes a great fashion statement is a Free Youth Transit Pass (FYTP)—also known as a Youth ORCA card! The pass is good 24/7/365. This will be the fourth school year that youth 18 years of age and younger will be able to use it to board transit for free. The card is the stress-free way for getting to after school activities, picking up siblings, getting to work, or heading… Read More

Crossposted from the KCSO Employee newsletter Chief Jose Marenco and Sound Transit Police Chief Marcus Williams recently welcomed a delegation from Kazakhstan as part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The visit served as a platform for an information exchange centered on strategies for countering corruption and promoting transparency in law enforcement. During the session, KCSO leadership shared best practices, oversight measures, and community engagement approaches aimed at building trust and accountability. The Kazakh delegates offered insight into their own challenges and solutions, fostering a mutually beneficial… Read More

Crossposted from King County Superior Court The King County Superior Court Clerk’s Office has launched a data dashboard to display statistics and historical data for cases handled by King County Superior Court. The dashboard enables anyone to look at the flow of cases into King County Superior Court over time, observe the length of time between filing and resolution, and see the work that lies ahead. For each type of case, the dashboard shows, by month or year, the number of cases filed, resolved, and pending. “Every matter brought before a court… Read More

King County Executive Shannon Braddock and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced next steps for a Crisis Care Center in Seattle providing behavioral health care for people experiencing a mental health, drug, or alcohol crisis. The facility would be located at the former Polyclinic building at 1145 Broadway. King County voters approved the Crisis Care Centers Initiative in 2023 to create five centers across the region where anyone can walk in for behavioral health and substance use care. Read more.

Crossposted from For the Defense Last week, the Department of Public Defense’s (DPD) summer interns concluded their 10-week program representing clients through Washington’s unique Rule 9 license, which allows closely supervised law students to speak on the record in court. With the support of experienced supervisors and in partnership with attorneys in DPD’s misdemeanor units, interns gained invaluable experience defending clients from their first appearance following arrest to trial. Read more.

Crossposted from the KCSO employee newsletter Detective Dave Keller and K9 Fury proudly served the King County Sheriff’s Office as a Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission certified Narcotic Detection K9 Team. They were assigned to the Precinct 4 Special Emphasis Team from April 26, 2017, to Oct. 2022, and later served as back-up to K9 Quinn from Oct. 2022 until Sept. 1, 2025, an impressive 8½-year career. Over the course of his career, K9 Fury played a key role in the impressive seizure of approximately 1,480 pounds of narcotics, valued at… Read More

As you prep for school or childcare, Washington State Department of Health (DOH) makes it easy to know which vaccines are required for kids. These simple charts from Washington DOH’s School and Child Care Immunizations webpage walk you through what’s needed at each age: Required Immunizations for School-aged Children and Required Immunizations for Childcare. Read more.

Crossposted from Clean Water Stories It was the early-2000s and Western states were reeling from blackouts and skyrocketing electricity prices as the energy company Enron manipulated the spot market for profit. South Treatment Plant, which was purchasing electricity on the spot market, endured a 10-fold price spike from 1999 to 2000 and was looking for stable power pricing that was not tied to the craziness of Wall Street. Read more. 

Crossposted from the KCSO Employee newsletter A request came in to the Comm Center to have a Deputy come by a home in Covington as a surprise for a child’s birthday. Though this is a little bit of an unusual call for service Deputy Welch, Deputy Luu and Deputy Pfeiffer jumped at the chance to handle the call. They went out and presented some Covington swag to the young man to help celebrate his birthday. You can see by the smile on his face that he enjoyed his chance to meet some… Read More

Crossposted from the KCSO Employee newsletter Last week, a Canadian woman and her son, David, stopped by Precinct 2 and the Sammamish Police Department. David has special needs and is an avid collector of police department memorabilia. He and his family visit local agencies wherever he travels. He’s also a competitive powerlifter who has competed in Europe. Although David and his mom dropped in on short notice, the teams at Precinct 2 and Sammamish SPD quickly shifted gears to make sure his visit was one to remember. He enjoyed full tours, got… Read More

Crossposted from the KCSO employee newsletter Recently, the King County Sheriff’s Office was proud to take part in the annual Festival at Mount Si—our first big community event since we began working with the city to again provide contract police services sometime in 2026. Members from Community Programs and Services Division (CPSD) and Precinct 2 were out in full force, meeting residents, answering questions, and enjoying the festive atmosphere. We had the chance to connect with North Bend’s Mayor, one of the City Councilmembers, and other community leaders, all of whom shared… Read More