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Background

Background

What is the Transformation Plan?

The Transformation Plan charts a five-year course to a better performing health and human service system for the residents and communities of King County, Washington. An advisory group (the Transformation Panel), the King County Executive's Office, the departments of Public Health - Seattle & King County and the Department of Community and Human Services collaborated to write the Transformation Plan in early 2013, and it was accepted by the Metropolitan King County Council in July 2013. The Plan emerged from County Council Motion 13768.

HHS Transformation Project Phases

At two levels: people and places

To improve health and well-being and create conditions that allow residents of King County to achieve their full potential, we have to transform the way we engage individuals/families in times of crisis and in the communities they live. At the individual/family level, the Plan calls for strategies designed to improve access to person-centered, integrated, culturally competent services when, where, and how people need them. At the community level, the Plan calls for improvement of community conditions and features because health and well-being are deeply influenced by where people live, work, learn, and play.

There is an important relationship between the two strategies. Better coordination of services for individuals/families and focused investments that address disparities at community levels could be mutually reinforcing. Examples include:

  • people who have experienced four or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), exposure to child abuse and/or neglect, are more likely to smoke, have mental illness, chronic disease and criminal justice involvement later in life (high risk adults with multisystem involvement). Therefore, making environmental changes that can reduce exposure to adverse childhood experiences would potentially impact negative outcomes.

  • improving housing affordability and quality is linked to improving health and reducing criminal justice interactions.

Strategies that can intervene early on in the life course are especially well-positioned to improve health and social outcomes, resulting in fewer high risk individuals and families with multisystem involvement.

Diagram indicating strategic plan to work on individual/family level and community level

  • Updates

December 2016

  • Accountable Community of Health
  • Health Insurance Enrollment in King County
  • Best Starts for Kids
  • Communities of Opportunity
  • Partnerships to Improve Community Health
  • Health in the Chinatown-International District

October 2016

  • Best Starts for Kids
  • Equity and Social Justice
  • Heroin and Opiate Addiction Task Force
  • Accountable Community of Health
  • Familiar Faces
  • Seattle/King County Clinic for un- and under-insured
  • ACA Enrollment efforts successful
  • Upcoming RFI process for Medical/Dental/Access
  • Communities of Opportunity
  • Partnerships to Improve Community Health

August 2016

  • Communities of Opportunity
  • Best Starts for Kids
  • Accountable Community of Health
  • Familiar Faces
  • Heroin and Opiate Addiction Task Force
  • Partnerships to Improve Community Health

June 2016

  • In the News
  • Best Starts for Kids
  • Communities of Opportunity
  • Accountable Community of Health
  • Familiar Faces
  • Physical and Behavioral Health
  • Integration Partnerships to Improve Community Health

April 2016

  • Best Starts for Kids
  • Health and Housing Re-development at Yesler Terrace
  • Accountable Community of Health
  • Communities of Opportunity
  • Familiar Faces
  • Partnerships to Improve Community Health
  • Health Insurance Enrollment

February 2016

  • Meridian Center for Health Grand Opening
  • Accountable Communities of Health
  • Physical/Behavioral Health Integration
  • Familiar Faces
  • Communities of Opportunity
  • Partnerships to Improve Community Health

December 2015

  • Accountable Communities of Health
  • Physical/Behavioral Health Integration
  • Best Starts for Kids
  • Communities of Opportunity
  • Equity & Social Justice
  • Coverage is Here King County
  • Mental Illness and Drug Dependency Sales Tax Renewal

September 2015

  • Accountable Community of Health Design
  • King County's first Equity & Social Justice Strategic Plan: We want to hear from local organizations!
  • Physical/Behavioral Health Integration
  • Familiar Faces
  • Communities of Opportunity
  • Children and Youth Initiatives
  • Seeking Input for Mental Illness and Drug Dependency (MIDD): Sales tax renewal
  • Focus on remaining uninsured for upcoming open enrollment

June 2015

  • Accountable Communities of Health
  • Physical/Behavioral Health Integration
  • Familiar Faces
  • Communities of Opportunity
  • Opportunity Best Starts for Kids
  • Youth Action Plan
  • BUILD Health Challenge
  • Partnerships to Improve Community Health
  • Coverage is Here King County

March 2015

  • Communities of Opportunity
  • Accountable Communities of Health
  • Familiar Faces
  • Physical/Behavioral Health Integration
  • Best Starts for Kids
  • Youth Action Plan
  • Birth-5 Systems Building
  • Coverage is Here King County
  • Partnerships to Improve Community Health
  • Equity & Social Justice
  • Staffing

December 2014

  • Early learning roundtable: You're invited, January 7, 2015
  • Requests for Proposals to promote Healthy Eating, Active Living & Tobacco Prevention: Coming soon!
  • Recent news in state health system transformation, Accountable Communities of Health and Physical/Behavioral Health Integration
  • Key dates

November 2014

  • Communities of Opportunity
  • Familiar Faces
  • Partnerships to Improve Community Health
  • Coverage is Here King County
  • Accountable Community of Health (ACH)
  • Medicaid/Medicare Financial Alignment Demonstration
  • Physical/Behavioral Health Integration
  • What is the HHS Transformation Plan?

June 2014

  • Community partners engaged in shaping next steps
  • Community level strategy gets underway as the "Communities of Opportunity" initiative
  • Request for proposals (RFP) recently issued
  • Individual/family-level strategy developments
  • Aligning with the state health care innovation plan: Accountable Community of Health (ACH) exploration
  • Catalyst fund guidelines developed
  • Staffing
  • Key dates
  • Early accomplishments

Consulted with Advising Partners Group to advise on a structure for moving the Transformation Plan forward.

Meetings:

Catalyst Fund design and distribution. The County Council approved the Executive's request for 2014 funding to help jumpstart the Transformation Plan's implementation, including a $500,000 catalyst fund. In early 2014, the County worked with community advisers to develop guidelines for the use of the fund and how it will advance the work under the two early strategies.

Health insurance coverage. Community partners and the county designed and launched a campaign to enroll approximately 65,000 residents in health care coverage during 2014 – a core foundation of the Transformation Plan's success.

Narrowed the scope of work for the Transformation Plan's two early strategies (community-level and individual/family level). See Communities of Opportunity and Familiar Faces pages for more information.

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