Policy & Practice December 2017

our do’ers profile

In Our Do’ers Profile, we highlight some of the hardworking and talented individuals in public human services. This issue features Adrienne Quinn, Director of the King County Department of Community and Human Services.

Name: Adrienne Quinn Title: Director of King County (WA) Department of Community and Human Services Years of Service: I have been director for four years, since November 2013. Rewards of the Job: Working with a passionate and dedicated team. Accomplishments Most Proud Of: In my four years at King County, I have focused on service and system integration and moving upstream from crisis services to pre- vention. Two years ago, King County voters approved Best Starts for Kids, the most comprehensive approach to early childhood development in the nation, starting with prenatal support, sustaining the gain through the teenage years, and investing in healthy, safe communities that reinforce progress. Last year, we successfully integrated substance use and mental health services for Medicaid recipients and other vul- nerable community members. We are now in the process of integrating behavioral health and physical health services for the Medicaid population.

Focusing on data, the department assumed responsibility for the region’s Homeless Management Information System so that we now have accurate data and performance metrics that the region can utilize. To better understand the many services that King County residents may use and to understand what services are making a difference in the lives of community members, we invested resources to create a data hub to inte- grate data frommultiple databases, including behavioral health, physical health, veterans’ services, employment services, correctional services, and services for the homeless. Future Challenges for the Delivery of Public Human Services: Even with high-per- forming human services systems, because community needs continue to grow and funding is either decreasing or not increasing sufficiently to meet the need, there is a public per- ception that human services systems are not performing. We need to be able to effectively use data to show the thousands of lives that are being transformed and the crises that are being averted. Little Known Facts About Me: I run five to six days a week, and have been doing so for 37 years. Outside Interests: Anything outdoors—that’s why I live in the Northwest.

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