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King County partners point to wage boosts, inflation adjustments to stabilize human services workforce
Summary
County officials, researchers and labor-management partners told a committee on April 1 that targeted wage increases, annual inflation adjustments and labor‑management partnerships are reducing turnover but that larger, sustained investments are needed to close historic pay gaps in the human services sector.
King County officials, labor representatives and researchers told the county’s Housing, Health and Human Services Committee on April 1 that investments in wages and contract inflation adjustments are beginning to reduce turnover in nonprofit human services organizations, but that a substantial, multi‑year funding effort will be required to close long‑standing pay gaps and preserve service capacity.
DCHS Director Kelly Reiter summarized the county’s "sustainable funding vision": budget for annual inflation; promote and fund living wages; and pay services at their full cost. She described recent workforce investments in the Best Starts for Kids and Veterans, Seniors & Human Services levies and the department’s strategy to prioritize inflation adjustments when unanticipated revenues appear.
"We can only achieve our needed results for the community through a robust and representative human services workforce," Reiter told the committee. She emphasized that DCHS contracts with more than 500 organizations…
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