Programs & Services

Adult Day Services are provided to adults with medical or disabling conditions in order to prevent or delay the need for institutional care. Case management authorized participants attend State approved day centers and receive care designed to meet their physical, mental, and emotional needs. Depending on the level of their need and the number of days authorized, participants may enroll in one or combination of the following services:

• Adult Day Care programs provide core services such as: personal care (e.g., body care, eating, positioning, transfer, toileting), social services, routine health monitoring (e.g., vital signs, weight, dietary needs), general therapeutic activities (e.g., recreational activities and relaxation therapy), general health education (e.g., nutrition, stress management, preventive care), supervision, assistance with arranging transportation, and first aid as needed.
• Adult Day Health programs includes the core services mentioned above plus skilled nursing services, skilled therapy services (e.g., physical therapy, occupational therapy, or speech therapy), and psychological or counseling services.

Click on the image above to open a two-page PDF copy of the 2022 Family Caregiver Month in Seattle proclamation signed by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and all members of the Seattle City Council.

Caregiver Support focuses on both the individual caregiver and the system that supports the caregiver. Depending upon the funding source, services range from kinship care for grandparents (age 60+) caring for relatives, to caregivers caring for persons age 18 and over.

Services may include:

• Referrals to local support groups, counseling, and other resources
• Training on specific caregiving topics
• Advice on use of supplies and equipment
• Practical information and caregiving suggestions
• Respite care, if a caregiver needs a break

We also support Kinship Care—when an adult raises a relative’s child—as an alternative to foster care. The Kinship Care Navigator helps kinship caregiver identify services and supports.

For more information about caregiver support and kinship care services, visit Community Living Connections.

Brochure | Resources for Dementia Caregivers During the COVID-19 Outbreak (Dementia Action Collaborative)

Aging and Disability Services helps people live independently. Care coordination services help people live at home. The Care Coordination Program connects in-home care services to adults age 18 and up, most of whom are Medicaid-eligible and challenged by two or more “activities of daily living” (e.g., eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring/walking, and continence).

ADS care coordinators authorize and arrange for in-home services for adults who need personal care services to remain safe and healthy in their home. Care coordinators conduct in-home assessments and consult with clients and caregivers to develop and implement a service plan that addresses the individual’s personal care needs. Care coordinators monitor service plans during the year, following up regularly with clients and service providers to ensure that their situations have stabilized.

Through the program, clients can select home care aides to help with their personal care needs. ADS contracts with home care agencies and a client can select an individual they know if the individual meets State requirements. Services may include:

• Amy Wong Client Fund: This charitable fund, available only to ADS Care Coordination clients, provides services such as in-home care, emergency services and other health-related items for adults with disabilities who wish to remain living independently in their own homes. Services are authorized by care coordinators and provided through ADS service providers and outside vendors.
• COPES, Community First Choice, New Freedom, Medicaid Alternative Care (MAC), Tailored Supports for Older Adults (TSOA): Services that may be authorized by a care coordinator for clients unable to care for themselves include assistance with dressing, bathing, eating, toileting, and transferring. Limited household services are also available to maintain individuals in a safe and healthy environment.
• Nurse Consultation: Care coordination nurses focus on high-risk older people and adults with disabilities who have medically unstable health conditions. Services provided include appropriate referrals and coordination with health care professionals. The frequency and amount of service is based on individual need that is defined by eligibility and client assessment.

Screening and referral for care coordination services are provided through the Washington State DSHS Home and Community Services and Community Living Connections:

• King County residents age 60+: Call Community Living Connections (toll-free) at 1-844-348-5464 or e-mail info@communitylivingconnections.org.
• King County residents age 18–59: Call DSHS Home & Community Services/King County at 206-341-7750 (toll-free 1-800-346-9257).
• King County residents with developmental disabilities: Contact the Washington State Developmental Disabilities Administration/Region 2 at 206-568-5700 (toll-free 1-800-314-3296) or e-mail dd4fso@dshs.wa.gov.

Brochures

• Building-Based Case Management Program (SHA)

Community Living Connections provides you a caring, highly-trained advocate who will give easy access to information, individual consultation and service options. The program includes an extensive network of community partners who can answer questions and find the most appropriate help for each individual. Staff can also determine eligibility for programs, services and public benefits to help individuals or their loved ones live with dignity and enjoy the best quality of life possible. These services are free and confidential:

• Information and assistance accessing community resources
• Individual consultation and help planning for long term care needs
• Access to family caregiver support services

Elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation are growing problems in our community. Aging and Disability Services (ADS) provides support for Seattle-King County residents age 60+ who are abused, neglected and/or exploited by someone they trust. We work closely with medics, fire fighters, police, and the county prosecuting attorney’s office to improve health outcomes for vulnerable adults.

Following are examples of abuse:

• Physical abuse—Use of force to threaten or physically injure
• Emotional abuse—Verbal attacks, threats, rejection, isolation, or belittling acts that cause or could cause mental anguish, pain, or distress
• Sexual abuse—Sexual contact that is forced, tricked, threatened, or otherwise coerced, including anyone who is unable to grant consent
• Exploitation—Theft, fraud, misuse or neglect of authority, and use of undue influence as a lever to gain control over another person’s money or property
• Neglect—A caregiver’s failure or refusal to provide for safety, physical, or emotional needs
• Abandonment—Desertion by anyone with a duty of care

Studies tell us that only a small percentage of abuse cases are reported. Even so, more than 3,000 cases are reported to Adult Protective Services in King County every year. Three-quarters of the reported victims were age 60+. Reports include financial exploitation, neglect (not including self-neglect), and sexual abuse.

Help is Available
Whether the abuse is new or there is a long pattern of abuse—past or current—help is available. Aging and Disability Services case managers provide clients with a broad range of support and access to community resources, enabling them to live more self-sufficiently. Case managers identify community resources and can assist clients in accessing available services as appropriate.

If you suspect that a crime against a vulnerable adult is occurring or has occurred, you should do two things:

• Report the crime to the police by calling 911; and
• Report the crime to the Washington State abuse hotline: 1-866-EndHarm (1-866-363-4276).

To access victim support services, call Community Living Connections (toll-free) at 844-348-5464.

Resources

Click on the image above to open a two-page PDF copy of the proclamation.

• Elder Abuse Awareness Day: June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Communities around the world plan events and activities on or near this day.
  • Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and all members of the Seattle City Council proclaimed June 15, 2022 as Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Seattle.
  • In July 2018, Seattle City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw hosted Coordinated Response to Abuse, Neglect & Exploitation, a forum that focused on the City’s and County’s coordinated response to physical, emotional, and financial abuse of elders and the needs of vulnerable older adults. Presenters included Page Ulrey and Amanda Froh, senior deputy prosecutors, Office of the King County Prosecutor; Captain Peter Ubaldi, Seattle Fire Department; Kathi Church, elder abuse case manager, and Audrey Powers, vulnerable adult case manager, Seattle Human Services Department/Aging and Disability Services. The event was televised live by The Seattle Channel. Video | Slidedeck1 | Slidedeck2 | Slidedeck3
• Vulnerable Adult Pilot Project Final Report: This program evaluation prepared by Public Health—Seattle & King County, Emergency Medical Services division recommends expanding and improving coordination between emergency responders and other providers in identifying and responding to abuse of vulnerable adults.
• Gateway Program: This program trains community members who come into regular contact with at-risk elders (e.g., those who are isolated, live alone, or need some type of assistance) to recognize signs of potential abuse, neglect, or exploitation and to report their concerns.
• Long Term Care Ombudsman: The office of the Washington State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program is designed to improve the quality of life for residents of nursing homes, congregate care facilities, boarding homes and adult family homes. With the assistance of trained volunteers, the office investigates and resolves complaints made by or on behalf of residents, and identifies problems that affect a substantial number of residents. The office also advocates for needed changes in federal, state, and local laws to protect adults in long-term care communities.
• National Center on Elder Abuse
• National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life
• Money Smart for Older Adults: Prevent Financial Exploitation (a resource guide published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and FDIC)
• Quiet Crimes: Elder Abuse on Rise in Washington (KUOW/National Public Radio, November 2014)
• Video: An Age for Justice: Confronting Elder Abuse in America (Elder Justice Now)

Health promotion programs help people manage their chronic conditions and live healthier lives, and are a key strategy in delaying more expensive long-term care services. Aging and Disability Services partners with Public Health—Seattle & King County to offer evidence-based programs. King County’s Veterans. Seniors and Human Services Levy also funds evidence-informed and promising practices health promotion programs, including PEARLS for Veterans.

The purpose of Legal Services is to enable older people to secure rights, benefits and entitlements under federal, state and local laws. It also seeks to effect favorable changes in laws and regulations that affect older people and strives to maintain public and private resources that benefit low-income elderly people. Services include group legal representation, including class action lawsuits, advocacy training and information to service providers, private attorneys and volunteer advocates, and individual client legal services.

The LGBTQ Cultural Competency Training and Support program helps older adults age successfully in the community through peer support and cross-generational support activities and assistance connecting to community resources. The program also provides cultural capacity training for aging, health, and human services providers to address unique risks, challenges, and strengths of LGBTQ older adults, families and caregivers.

The Mobile Integrated Health Program is a partnership between the Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) and Seattle Fire Department. It comprises three main activities: the Health One response unit, high utilizer case management, and the Vulnerable Adult program. Together, HSD/ADS case managers and specially-trained fire fighters staff Health One mobile units, ensuring that clients receive the medical care, mental health care, shelter or other social services they need. For more information, visit the Seattle Fire Department’s Mobile Integrated Health Program webpage and Health One webpage.

Includes congregate or community meals, home delivered meals, and outreach services.

• The Congregate Meal Program helps meet the dietary need of older people by providing nutrition education, and nutritionally sound lunches served in a group setting. Eleven agencies manage over 50 nutrition sites  located throughout King County. The program includes ethnic meal sites that provide ethnic-specific food to the following populations: East African, African American, Eastern European, Hispanic, Native American and Asian (including: Filipino, Hmong, Lao, Chinese, Vietnamese, IndoChinese, Indian, Samoan, and Other Pacific Islanders.)
• The Home Delivered Meals program provides nutritious meals to older people who are homebound and unable to prepare meals for themselves. Frozen meals are delivered to individuals throughout Seattle and King County. Hot, home delivered meals tailored to Latino elders living in some areas of King County are also available.

Did you know that, compared with their peers, senior center participants have higher levels of health, social interaction, and life satisfaction?

Senior centers are community resource centers that meet the physical and emotional needs of older adults (usually age 50+) by providing opportunities for fitness, volunteerism, lifelong learning, transportation, and healthy meals as well as services and resources such as immunization, health screening, and foot care.

For a list of senior centers throughout King County, click here.

Aging and Disability Services funds transportation programs in King County that are focused on improving the ability of older adults to access health services and healthy food. ADS supports Hyde Shuttle routes that serve nutrition sites. ADS also funds Sound Generations’ Volunteer Transportation program, which provides rides to medical appointments and other health services, as well as Catholic Community Services’ Volunteer Services Transportation. Northshore Senior Center provides transportation for older adults and people with disabilities in North and East King County and South Snohomish County.

To address transportation gaps and identify new strategies to improve transportation services, Aging and Disability Services is a member of the King County Mobility Coalition and the Puget Sound Regional Council Transportation Policy Board.

For information about transportation options in King County, visit FindARide.org.