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About the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS)
Learn about the department's five divisions, and the tax-funded initiatives it stewards to help the people of King County to be healthy, happy, and connected to community.
At the King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS), we manage a range of programs and services to help our county's most vulnerable residents and strengthen our communities.
We have five divisions in the department that help offer much-needed resources for our residents. For most work, we contract with our trusted network of community-based agencies to provide direct services. The services and programs funded by DCHS consist of behavioral health treatment, affordable housing, child care resources, education and employment for youth and young adults, veterans services, senior supports, and inclusive resources for people with developmental disabilities, all toward the goal of strengthening our communities.
Our department also stewards the revenue from the Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy (VSHSL), Best Starts for Kids (BSK) levy the MIDD Behavioral Health Sales Tax, Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account (PSTAA), and manages Health Through Housing. These initiatives provide critical funding and support for various related programs.
We believe in working as one team that solves problems—striving to be customer-focused and an organization that drives for the best results. Our department envisions a welcoming community that is racially just because the field of human services exists to undo and mitigate unfair structures.
Our five divisions
Director’s Office
Our entire department, along with our trusted network of community providers and partners, plays a leading role in creating and coordinating the region’s human services infrastructure.
The Director’s Office, led by Kelly Rider, Acting Department Director; Amber Green, Acting Deputy Director; and Katie Rogers, Acting Chief of Staff, manages the critical business functions of the department and provides regional leadership for our various efforts.
Adult Services Division (ASD)
The Adult Services Division works in partnership with communities to develop, support and provide human services programs focused on housing and financial stability, healthy living and social engagement for veterans, servicemembers and their families; older adults and their caregivers; and other populations who experience vulnerability. The division’s work also includes efforts to strengthen connections within, and improve access to, the human services system.
Key Programs/Initiatives
- Implementation of the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy (VSHSL)
- Limited General Fund: Funded human services for senior centers, survivors, and legal aid
- Council-directed CSO expenditures
- King County Veterans Program
Behavioral Health and Recovery Division (BHRD)
Division Director: Susan McLaughlin
The Behavioral Health and Recovery Division’s primary objective is to manage the administration of behavioral health services and programs for low-income King County residents and, on a limited basis, provide direct services. BHRD is committed to health services that serve the “whole” person, both mind and body—by providing services and supports to individuals, families, and communities affected by mental health and/or substance use conditions.
Key Programs/Initiatives
- Prevention/Early Intervention Services
- Crisis Services, including the Crisis Care Centers Levy
- Outpatient, Residential, and Inpatient services through the King County Integrated Care Network (KCICN)
- Recovery Support Services
- Contracts with over 100 agencies to provide services and treatment
Children, Youth and Young Adults Division (CYYAD)
Division Director: Sheila Ater Capestany
The Children, Youth, and Young Adult Division envisions a King County in which all young people have equitable opportunities to be happy, healthy, safe, and thriving members of their communities.
CYYAD manages investment strategies that build the life, academic, and employment skills for young people to reach their full potential. The division also delivers re-engagement, education, and employment programs for youth and young adults ages 16-24 years and is partnering with King County agencies and community organizations to transform the County’s juvenile legal system.
Key Programs/Initiatives
- Best Starts for Kids Sustain the Gain Investment Strategies (Ages 5 to 24)
- Child Care Subsidies and Wage Boost Pilot
- Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account’s K-12 and post-secondary investment strategies.
- Employment, Education and Training Services
Developmental Disabilities and Early Childhood Supports Division (DDECSD)
Division Director: Magan Cromar
The Developmental Disabilities and Early Childhood Supports Division offers a range of programs and services to help children prenatal to five, their families, and caregivers; people with developmental disabilities and delays and their families, and community-based organizations.
Key Programs/Initiatives
- Prenatal to Five Programs
- Early Support for Infants and Toddlers
- Universal Developmental Screening
- Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health
- Workforce Development
- Innovation Supports
- Adult services and School-to-work
- School-to-Work (S2W)
- Individual Employment
- Community Inclusion
- Community Information, Outreach and Referral
Housing and Community Development
Division Director Simon P. Foster
The Housing and Community Development Division invests in the creation and preservation of affordable housing and community development projects by working collaboratively with local cities, housing authorities, developers, state and federal agencies, nonprofits, and community members.
Key Programs/Initiatives
- Health Through Housing
- Affordable housing development and preservation, capital, operating and services
- Homelessness services transitioning to King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA)
- Community and economic development
- Housing planning and policy development
Our key initiatives
Best Starts for Kids (BSK)
BSK is a King County voter-approved initiative, that invests an average of $65 million per year, to support every baby born or child raised in King County to reach adulthood happy, healthy, safe, and thriving. Through comprehensive supports from prenatal development to adulthood, Best Starts for Kids catalyzes strong starts in early childhood and sustains those gains as kids progress to adulthood, launching King County’s kids on a path to lifelong health and well-being.
Crisis Care Centers (CCC)
Crisis Care Centers initiative is 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. A person in crisis can call 988 for resources, access a walk-in clinic, move to mid-level residential treatment if necessary, and interact with expert behavioral health workers through each step. This is part of a strategy to prevent more acute crises and create more pathways for services within the system.
Health Through Housing (HTH)
HTH is King County’s regional initiative to acquire and operate up to 1,600 units of affordable housing for residents experiencing and at risk of chronic homelessness while reducing racial-ethnic disproportionality. This program will provide a place to live for more than 40 percent of people experiencing chronic homelessness. Since the initiative began in 2020, King County has purchased 11 buildings located in Auburn, Federal Way, Kirkland, Redmond, Renton, and Seattle.
MIDD Behavioral Health Sales Tax (MIDD)
The MIDD plays an integral role in community behavioral health and works to improve the behavioral health system to provide the care people need. By supporting King County’s behavioral health system across the full spectrum of behavioral health responses – from prevention, to treatment, the MIDD helps people transition back into the community after a crisis instead of hospitalization or jail.
Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account (PSTAA)
The Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account (PSTAA) expands and strengthens equitable supports for youth in our region. PSTAA funds, as directed by the King County Council, support investments for early learning facilities, K-12 community-based supports, as well as college, career, and technical education.
Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy (VSHSL)
The VSHSL builds on the investments made over the past 18 years and ensures a wide range of programming. VSHSL connects servicemembers and veterans, residents age 55 or older, and vulnerable populations to programs and services that help them live healthy, productive and meaningful lives. It helps individuals and families transition to affordable housing, get job training, find employment, receive behavioral health treatment, and more.