Increasing an individual’s ability to cover necessary expenses while making modest investments to secure their long-term ability to accomplish personal goals.

ASD promotes financial stability through programs that include, but are not limited to:

• King County Veterans Program (KCVP): Helping local veterans connect to services through skilled case management, employment specialists, financial literacy counselors and connected support from many on-site partnerships. KCVP, with support from the RCW 73.08 veterans relief fund, provides supportive services to veterans, servicemembers and their families such as: emergency financial support, legal end of life support, burial assistance and physical and mental health resources. For more information on KCVP services.
• Employment training, placement and supports: An innovative partnership with the Workforce Development Council blends federal and local funding to open new doors for community-based organizations and streamlines access to employment and job training supports for King County’s most marginalized populations.
• King County Vets 4 Hire Program: King County's Vets 4 Hire Program supports veterans in making a successful transition from military to civilian employment and to provide a pipeline of skilled veteran talent for positions within King County.

Improving the overall health of King County residents by preventing behavioral health crises, providing education and care to those who would not otherwise have access, preventing abuse and violence and enabling parents to pursue educational advancement.

ASD promotes healthy living through programs focused on:

• Preventing behavioral health crises:

  ASD focuses programming on pre-crisis services to prevent the necessity for crisis response. Programs include:

  • Emergency Services Patrol, a 24/7 transportation and engagement unit that relieves emergency personnel in caring for chronic substance users by transporting them to shelters and connecting them to case management, housing, outpatient treatment and other supports. 
  • PEARLS, an evidenced-based treatment program for older adults with disabilities who also have minor depression.
  • Behavioral health counseling, available to veterans and their family members for whom VA-provided services are not possible or appropriate.
• Providing care in the community: 

  Multiple programs provide care to King County’s communities including: 

  • Evidence-based and other effective health promotion programs for a diverse range of senior communities, particularly those experiencing health and health care disparities.
  • The Housing Health Outreach team offers in-home medical and behavioral health services to recently homeless individuals residing in affordable housing.
  • Support to help seniors connect with potential in-home caregivers so that they can receive routine, ongoing care in their homes.

• Preventing abuse, assault and violence: 

  Programs that seek to prevent abuse, assault and violence include:

  • A countywide initiative to prevent domestic violence, sexual assault, commercial sexual exploitation and other forms of gender-based violence.
  • King County's Elder Abuse Multi-Disciplinary Team supports older adults who experience elder abuse, which may include physical abuse, neglect, or financial predation.

Promoting belonging and interpersonal connections where systems, biases, miscommunications, or cultural differences too often serve to isolate.

To counter the known negative effects of social isolation, particularly for veterans, seniors, immigrants and refugees, persons with disabilities, caregivers and persons reentering society after incarceration, ASD programs supporting social engagement include, but are not limited to: 

• Comprehensive service hubs for seniors: Senior centers transformed into central hubs from which seniors and their caregivers can access VSHSL-funded services for seniors.
• Supporting reentry from incarceration: Supporting community-based organizations to help persons reentering from incarceration establish social connections and a sense of belonging that will help avoid future legal system involvement.
• Care for caregivers: 

  Multiple programs support King County’s caregivers:

  • Providing caregivers for persons with disabilities, seniors and veterans with centralized resource access and activities that foster belonging and social engagement
  • Providing subsidized respite care or to develop, enhance and expand existing programs that provide respite to caregivers for persons with disabilities, seniors or veterans
  • Supporting seniors who provide kinship care to children to whom they are related.

Facilitating access for target populations to the human services system, and the ability of these services to systematize and continuously improve.

ASD seeks to strengthen connections within and improve access to the human services system. Strategies supporting service system access and improvement include:

• Pathfinders: Find, Stabilize and Connect: 

  Pathfinders is a suite of specialized outreach programs, serving women and transgender veterans, veterans of color, veteran and military families, Native American veterans and persons experiencing unsheltered homelessness, connect veterans and their families to the King County Veterans Program, other levy funded veteran’s services, and the broader veterans community. 

• Extend the network of support: 

  Certain populations may face barriers to seeking and accessing needed services, due to geography, limited mobility, limited resources or complex and confusing service systems. To counter that, ASD funds programs that seek to increase and enable access through mobile or technology-based access, such as:

  • The Mobile Medical Program, providing walk-in services facilitated by mobile clinics to individuals experiencing homelessness and to older adults.
  • The creation and operation of a countywide, 24-hour multi-lingual, multi-modal domestic violence hotline to provide immediate confidential advocacy and referrals for survivors of domestic violence.

• Provide specialized case management and advocacy: 

  Recognizing the role of an advocate or case manager in helping individuals in navigating complex human service systems, ASD funds programs such as:

  • A countywide collaborative to serve survivors of commercial sexual exploitation.
  • A network of specialized counselor/case managers that provide specialized advocacy and outreach to connect survivors of gender-based violence, including sexual assault and domestic violence, with resources.