May is Mental Health Month
A message from Whitney Abrams, Chief People Officer
May is Mental Health Month and as we have seen year over year, mental health continues to be a growing concern in our county and communities. More than half of American adults will be diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime. We are seeing a growing concern over children’s mental health as well. Many of us, including me, have been impacted by mental illness, either personally or with someone we are close to. The last thing I want is for anyone – whether they are colleagues, family, friends, or strangers – to struggle alone and in silence or not know where to turn for help.
If you are concerned about mental health, there are several options available. For support with mental health for you or a loved one, consider reaching out to a mental health professional covered by King County’s insurance benefits, or to one of our King County Employee Assistance Program mental health counselors. Watch the Balanced You blog, Employee News email, Wellness Wednesday, and common areas at worksites for more information this month on programs and resources that promote mental health and emotional well-being.
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Voters approve Crisis Care Centers Levy—a generational investment to transform the behavioral health system in King County
King County Executive Dow Constantine applauds the approval of the Crisis Care Centers initiative, a nine-year levy that will create a regional network of five Crisis Care Centers, restore and increase mental health residential treatment beds, and invest in the people who do the difficult, important, and historically underpaid work of providing mental health and substance use disorder services.
“King County voters agree - we must build a stronger behavioral health system to meet the urgent and growing need for care," said Executive Constantine. “With this strong approval, we will chart a path forward to provide the help people need and deserve." Read more in the official press release.
Local Services gets National Association of Government Communicators award for Participatory Budgeting
Crossposted from King County Local
Local Services’ Participatory Budgeting program has received an international accolade for the way it helped spread the word to the community.
The department won a National Association of Government Communicators’ Blue Pencil & Gold Screen Award for the blog post/news releases that it produced for Participatory Budgeting. Read more.
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Have your say: King County asking for input on budget cuts
King County launched a community survey asking for public input on prioritizing services funded by the County’s General Fund to inform looming budget cuts. The 2025-2026 General Fund is facing a $100 million revenue shortfall due to the state’s arbitrary one percent limit on property tax collections, which has not been updated in 20 years and now coincides with increased costs and high rates of inflation exceeding 9%.
To prevent deeper cuts in the next biennial budget and to provide time for affected programs to wind down, King County will be considering a budget in the fall that will include cuts to general fund programs.
Executive Constantine is asking for input on budget priorities from employees and residents. The budget cuts are required because the legislature did not fix the outdated property tax revenue limits for counties. Take the survey here.
May is Bike Everywhere Month
Yes, everywhere and anywhere. To work, grocery shopping, getting kids to school, your pickleball court, places you’ve been meaning to go. Get even farther when you use a bike to get to your bus, train or boat.
Form a team, join a team on LovetoRide
Challenge or cajole your coworkers, neighbors, family members, friends – or yourself. It’s not all hard-core. Earn points for being a new participant, most rides, miles, different kinds of trips, encouraging others, or rides with kids.
King County’s teams have been among the most active in the past. If you form a team of King County employees, please register your workplace as King County Government, choose your department, then make up your team’s name.
Where to start?
Find lots of useful info at Metro’s Celebrate Bike Month page. Look at events and activities on Cascade Bicycle Club’s 2023 Bike Everywhere Month calendar. Read more.
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Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel disruptions: Service alternatives available during repairs
Crossposted from Metro Matters
Damage to the ceiling of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) at Westlake Station is disrupting Sound Transit Link 1 Line service until further notice. Riders should prepare for additional travel times as trains are operating every 15-20 minutes in the DSTT. Surface street bus options are available by using King County Metro’s Trip Planner. Read more.
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King County is fixing stuff for free
During Earth Week, a Solid Waste Division program that helps people fix household items for free was featured on KING 5’s Evening Magazine. The program aims to keep items out of the landfill and put them back in use. The repair events are held approximately every month. The program was also featured on the Spanish-language TV channel KUNS.
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2023 Seattle Pride Parade
2023 Seattle Pride Parade planning is underway. If you want to be kept up to date on all things Pride Parade, send an email to Leah.Holland@kingcounty.gov with PRIDE INFO 2023 in the subject line.
This year, t-shirt sales will be done completely online and mailed directly to you. The Parade route runs from downtown Seattle to Seattle Center on Sunday, June 25. More info will be sent out soon. Happy PRIDE!
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Metro retires @kcmetroalerts, but will keep @KingCountyMetro
Crossposted from Metro Matters
King County Metro will continue to post on @KingCountyMetro, our general news Twitter account. But we will retire our automated, alerts-only Twitter account @kcmetroalerts after today. The information previously shared through @kcmetroalerts will still be available through other trip planning tools. Read more.
Balanced You Self-Care Webinars: Mental Health - How Mindfulness Works
In May, we celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month. We are seeing more research and discussion around mental health and the benefits of mindfulness practice and we want to share it with you. Join Balanced You for a discussion with Tim Burnett, Executive Director of Mindfulness Northwest, and learn how mindfulness practice can help with burnout, depression, anxiety, conflict resolution, and much more. As a bonus, Tim will take us through a live mindfulness practice during the webinar.
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Training Spotlight
Brain-based Time Management – Online – Do you procrastinate, get distracted, have a hard time prioritizing, or feel overwhelmed? What we do and how we do it are driven by how our brains are wired. Neuroscience tells us we have 10 brain skills and each one of us has skills that are strong (and skills that are not strong).
In this class, you’ll hear about each of these skills so you can identify where the weak areas are for you and most importantly, learn what you can do about it. Imagine finishing your workday with confidence that you remembered and handled everything you needed to!
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Monday, May 8, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fees apply. Register here.
Creating Effective Application Materials – Online – This two-hour virtual workshop will provide tips and strategies on how to make application materials stand out. Learn the purpose of the job application, resume, cover letter and supplemental questions, and how to make each of them more effective. We’ll go over what to include in your resume and the best format to showcase your qualifications, how to write a tailored cover letter, and how to showcase your accomplishments and transferable skills.
Strategic Interviewing Skills Q&A – Online – Preparing for a job interview can be a daunting task. Your Career Support Services (CSS) team is hosting a virtual hour-long open forum Q&A session to answer questions from those who completed a live CSS Strategic Interviewing Skills workshop or eLearning. This is your opportunity to ask additional questions about the STAR-LA interview response method, types of interview questions, or get clarification on other topics covered in the training.
Please visit the King County Eventbrite website, Learning and Development website, and Career Support Services website for more learning opportunities. For more information, contact the Learning and Development Team at KCTraining@kingcounty.gov or visit Learning and Development at www.kingcounty.gov/learning.
Featured Job: Project Program Manager III | Learning Community Strategy Lead | CDIP
Learn more about this position and view all available positions.
King County Headlines
Metro Matters: Transit service update: Route 162 temporarily suspended weekdays through May 5; please use our travel tools
Keeping King County Green: 50 years of growth: Seattle’s P-Patch Program celebrates half a century of community gardening
King County Local: Economic Development: Vashon Island Syrian food cart owner named U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2023 Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Public Health Insider: Q&A on recent Klebsiella outbreak at Virginia Mason Medical Center
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