This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP0152 awarded to King County, Washington by the U.S. 

Department of the Treasury.

 

2021 REVIVE AND THRIVE 

RECOVERY PLAN
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 1

Table of Contents

Executive Summary .........................................................................................................................................................2

Uses of Funds ...................................................................................................................................................................2

Coordinated Response................................................................................................................................................2

Economic Impacts........................................................................................................................................................3

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Spending ............................................................................................................3

Public Health ............................................................................................................................................................3

Negative Economic Impacts ...................................................................................................................................4

Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities ....................................................................................5

Other Uses................................................................................................................................................................6

Promoting equitable outcomes .....................................................................................................................................6

Equity Vision and Strategies .......................................................................................................................................6

Theory of Change.........................................................................................................................................................7

Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic ..........................................................................................................................7

Racism is a Public Health Crisis..................................................................................................................................8

Pro-Equity Tools for Program Design........................................................................................................................9

Community Engagement ................................................................................................................................................9

Labor Practices .............................................................................................................................................................. 10

Use of Evidence ............................................................................................................................................................. 11

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category............................................................................................................. 11

Project Inventory........................................................................................................................................................... 12

Performance Report..................................................................................................................................................... 20

Background on King County’s Performance Measurement Approach.............................................................. 20

Regional Indicators ................................................................................................................................................... 21

Key Indicators of COVID-19 ................................................................................................................................. 21

Economic Indicators ............................................................................................................................................. 22

Other Economic, Social and Health Indicators ................................................................................................. 23

SLFRF Funded Programs .......................................................................................................................................... 24
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 2

Executive Summary 

King County, Washington was the epicenter of COVID-19 in the United States. The first known case occurred 

in King County, and the first large outbreak followed shortly thereafter. Public Health – Seattle & King 

County led the initial response to the pandemic with strong support from state and federal agencies. King 

County officials were among the first to call for restrictions to help contain COVID, and County Public Health 

leaders have played major roles in the state and national response.

As the County launched its response to the public health impacts, it also rapidly responded to the acute 

economic impacts of the pandemic. Social distancing requirements and stay-at-home orders resulted in a 

large realignment of daily life that affected every resident, causing widespread financial distress and anxiety. 

For communities that already faced inequitable access to health care, education, and employment 

opportunities, these impacts were devasting. 

King County, along with the state and federal government, began deploying resources to rapidly respond to 

these changing conditions, even as it swiftly moved to retool its operations so that workers could safely 

continue to deliver essential services while working in socially distanced or remote situations. In addition to 

its pandemic response, the county also began laying the groundwork for a safe and equitable reopening 

and recovery. 

With the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, the county moved decisively to initiate its recovery plan. 

King County Executive Dow Constantine and the King County Council enacted an emergency supplemental 

budget to launch a portfolio of programs designed to continue funding the COVID response and make

equitable economic recovery investments in the community, with a focus on the people and places 

disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Under the banner “Revive and Thrive Together,” these 

programs are designed to create a permanent and positive difference for all people in the county.

The Revive and Thrive Recovery Plan outlines the scope of these programs, which are largely still in 

development. It highlights the ways in which equity and community engagement have guided the allocation 

of the federal funding and will be central to measuring the success of these efforts. Finally, the plan is 

intended to communicate with the people and communities within the county about the how the county 

intends to utilize these funds and leverage them into a lasting, sustainable, and meaningful recovery.

Uses of Funds

The county’s response to the pandemic, and its utilization of federal funding, has spanned several phases. 

Initially, the county was focused on providing a rapid response that prioritized the most urgent and acute 

needs. With the passage of the CARES Act in 2020, the county was able to capitalize on the influx of federal 

funding to amplify these programs, expand its response, and adapt to the changing demands of the 

pandemic. Finally, with the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, the county has been able to provide 

for a continuance of its COVID-19 response and fund equitable recovery activities.

Coordinated Response

King County’s COVID response has been led by the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Public Health, 

and the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS). The County employed its incident 

command structure to coordinate responses across agencies. Many new programs and facilities were 

developed, including expanded testing and contact tracing through Public Health, a comprehensive public 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 3

education campaign with particular emphasis on immigrant and Limited English Proficiency populations, a 

coordinated vaccination campaign, and establishment of a call center. The Facilities Management Division 

(FMD) led the effort to acquire or site facilities for individuals to isolate and quarantine if they could not do 

so at home. DCHS worked with FMD to lease hotels and provide hotel vouchers so homeless individuals 

previously housed in large shelters could have individual rooms. OEM made major purchases of personal 

protective equipment (PPE) and masks, and the County distributed masks through several partner

organizations and community locations.

Other parts of King County government also have been substantially affected by COVID. The County 

Executive ordered all employees who can to telework. County office buildings are largely vacant, and most 

office employees have quickly adapted to a new way to work. 

Metro Transit experienced a decline in ridership of about 75 percent and had to develop ways to ensure 

employee safety and to create social distancing on buses and trains. The courts expanded electronic 

services and temporarily suspended jury trials. The Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD) 

applied principles of the Lean management system to reduce the jail population and ensure social 

distancing, helping protect the health of inmates and staff. The County Council switched to virtual meetings 

and has passed all legislation remotely.

Economic Impacts

The need to respond to COVID-19 led to a recession throughout almost the entire world. The U.S. economy

has been rebounding quickly, driven by rapid vaccine distribution and the passage of the American Rescue 

Plan. King County’s economic conditions also continue to improve, and the outlook for county revenues and 

local economic indicators is positive. Currently, more than 75% percent of eligible County residents (ages 

12+) are fully vaccinated. County employment levels have recovered nearly 100,000 jobs since April 2020, 

though there are still 70,000 fewer jobs compared to pre-COVID levels. Most of these jobs are in education, 

leisure and hospitality, and other services that are likely to return as the economy continues to recover. Real 

estate prices continue to rise, and transactions have been strong. Inflation levels have been elevated relative 

to the recent past, but the high values are expected to be largely transitory. 

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Spending

King County received $437 million in flexible funds, referred to locally as Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery 

(CLFR) funds, from the American Rescue Plan Act. The King County Council began appropriating these funds 

in May, with a focus on the County’s public health response, economic recovery with a new program that 

promotes access to jobs and housing supports, and community supports and anti-racist work.

Given the urgency of needs in the community and the timelines needed to stand-up new programs to 

respond, the county’s appropriation process was initiated prior to issuance of the Interim Final Rule by US 

Treasury. An eligibility review process is underway to ensure that programs meet the eligibility requirements 

set out by Treasury and that program elements comply with other federal regulations, such as 2 CFR 200. 

Public Health

• Core COVID-19 Response Activities: Core activities include testing, isolation and quarantine, and 

vaccination programs. The majority of these costs have been funded through the Washington State 

Department of Health, which is distributing federal FEMA dollars to local government. This funding is 

tied to the federal declaration of disaster and will no longer be available should that declaration end. 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 4

Therefore, we have set aside a portion of CLFR funds to be available to fund remaining activities that 

might need to continue after that declaration and will complete the eligibility review process so that 

these programs will be eligible for CLFR funding when needed. 

• COVID-19 Prevention Strategies: The county has engaged in several strategies to prevent the 

spread of COVID-19 in its facilities and high-risk places. These include deintensification of shelters, 

moving to remote work or utilizing separate spaces for work in places like courtrooms, providing for 

more intensive cleaning and testing protocols in congregate settings like detention facilities, and the 

purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE). 

• Behavioral Health Services: The COVID-19 pandemic increased demand on the behavioral health 

system. The county has earmarked funds for several programs to increase investment in these 

services and meet critical needs. This includes additional services to those living in supportive 

housing and new programs focused on youth and rural residents.

• Deployed Staff: Meeting the increased needs for public health and safety has required that the

county deploy existing staff and hire new staff to respond to the pandemic. It is anticipated that 

CLFR funding will be used to cover these costs. Because the compliance burden on internal staffing 

costs is very low, the county plans to prioritize the use of federal dollars for these costs. This will 

allow funding from other sources, with less of a compliance burden, to be used in instances where 

the federal requirements would be more burdensome or time-consuming, such as for small dollarvalue contracts or programs for non-profits or community-based organizations where the 

administrative cost would be high relative to the organization’s capacity.

Negative Economic Impacts

• Small Business Grants: The county has initiated a $4.5 million grant program for small businesses 

in unincorporated King County.

• Business and Economic Resiliency Fund: The county is planning to create a business and 

economic resiliency fund, a concept that came out of the County’s Racism as Public Health Crisis 

effort. These funds will be allocated through a community-led process and will invest in supporting 

an equitable economic recovery.

• Creative Economy Grants: The county intends to provide several programs to address the impacts 

to the creative economy, include a fund focused on restarting events and festivals and grant

programs to support artists and local arts, science, and cultural institutions. The focus of this 

funding is to aid recovery in creative economy sector, as well as providing stimulus for the tourism 

and hospitality industry.

• Job Training Programs: The county intends to allocate a significant portion of CLFR-funding to 

provide new job training programs, including a new construction apprenticeship and job training 

program that support cities, school districts, and colleges in creating local hire programs in underserved areas throughout King County, and start-up funding for a statewide behavioral health 

apprenticeship program to help tackle chronic workforce issues,

• King County Jobs and Housing Program: This program will create over 400 new temporary jobs

across several conservation, environmental, and unincorporated service areas. Participants will be

recruited from County shelter or emergency and supported housing programs. The program will 

provide housing, transportation, and other supports to program participants to assist in their 

transition. 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 5

• Regional Economic Recovery: The county intends to partner with community-based organizations 

to support local job retention and recovery efforts. This includes supporting local industries, such as 

aerospace and tourism, and more broadly focused efforts as well.

• Food Security: The county is considering several programs related to food security in the region, 

including grant programs for food banks and other organizations that aid people experiencing food 

insecurity, and investments in food infrastructure such as co-packing spaces and farmers markets.

These programs will be calibrated to serve residents and areas where needs are greatest and focus 

on providing culturally appropriate foods and increased accessibility in the community.

• Rehiring Public Sector Staff: The county has identified several agencies that were unable to 

backfill for positions during the pandemic due to financial constraints, which have negatively 

impacted service levels for the public. The county intends to use CLFR-funds to rehire staff to prepandemic levels.

Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities

• Equitable Economic Recovery: The county is creating a recovery program centered on 

disproportionately impacted areas in unincorporated King County. This program will rely on 

partnerships with community-based organizations to assist local businesses and residents with 

COVID-19 recovery.

• Childcare Providers: The county intends to provide grants to childcare providers, including

formally licensed businesses and informal providers. This sector was particularly impacted by the 

pandemic, which stressed an already under-resourced industry that is vital to workforce

participation. In addition to the grant program, the county will continue funding the childcare 

voucher program for essential workers.

• Housing Supports: A major focus of the county’s CLFR funding will be providing increased housing 

support to people experiencing homelessness in the region. This includes new shelter beds, 

increased outreach, enhanced shelter services, permanent supportive housing, and investments in 

other housing solutions. 

• Disproportionate Health Impacts: The county intends to utilize CLFR funding to expand its public 

benefits navigator program, in order to increase access to health care in disproportionately

impacted communities. It also intends to partner with a community-based organization to increase 

vaccination rates in underserved communities.

• Increased Equity: The county is planning to provide ethnic media grants to community-based 

organizations to provide in-language communications on COVID-related issues and promote Racism 

as a Public Health Crisis efforts. The county’s Office of Equity and Social Justice (OESJ) will oversee 

several internal grant programs to augment its existing disability equity work to expand access in 

emergent situations and in the county’s emergency response, advance equitable communication 

strategies in coordination with agencies and CBOs, increase funding for the anti-hate and bias 

response and support the Coalition Against Hate and Bias, and provide available digital equity grants 

to CBOs to provide digital access and fluency services to vulnerable populations. 

• Community Violence Prevention: The county intends to create at youth workforce development 

program for youth impacted by regional gun violence. 

• Youth Sports Programs: The county intends to direct funding to youth sports programs, including 

a community-directed grant fund focused on increased equity in youth sports.
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 6

Other Uses

• Enhanced Wireless in Parks: The county intends to add public wireless services at several local 

parks as a “last mile” infrastructure project. 

• Administrative Costs: To support CLFR-funded activities, the Office of Performance, Strategy and 

Budget (PSB) and the Financial, Business, and Operations Division (FBOD) have added staff to 

administer new programs and provide compliance support. The county is in the process of assessing 

its current capacity for meeting the burden of federal requirements and may need to further 

augment or redeploy staffing levels to administer program compliance. 

Promoting equitable outcomes 

For many in our region, King County is a great place to live, learn, work and play. We have some of the most 

prosperous communities in the world. However, a closer look at the distribution of resources and wealth 

reveals that we have deeply entrenched social, economic, and environmental inequities—by race and 

place—that in many cases are worsening and threaten our collective prosperity.

An array of historical and societal factors drives these inequities including unequal access to the 

determinants of equity, institutional and structural racism, as well as gender and socioeconomic bias. These 

factors, while invisible to some of us, have profound and tangible impacts on all of us—both in the 

community and within our own organization.

Equity Vision and Strategies

King County’s Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan is a blueprint for change, mutually created by King 

County employees and community partners. From the outset, the planning process was designed to hear 

from people across sectors, geography, and populations before developing a draft. More than 600 County 

employees and 100 local organizations—including community organizations, education, philanthropy, labor, 

business, and local governments—shared their insights and expertise on where we have made progress, 

persistent challenges that exist, and solutions toward achieving equity.

The shared vision developed out of this process is consistent with the overall vision of King County’s 

Strategic Plan: A King County where all people have equitable opportunities to thrive. Our four strategies as 

One King County to advance Equity and Social Justice are to invest: 

• Upstream and where needs are greatest 

• In community partnerships 

• In employees 

• And we do this with accountable and transparent leadership.

Being “pro-equity” requires us to dismantle deeply entrenched systems of privilege and oppression that 

have led to inequitable decision-making processes and the uneven distribution of benefits and burdens in 

our communities. Similarly, we must focus on those people and places where needs are greatest to ensure 

that our decisions, policies, and practices produce gains for all.
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 7

Theory of Change

Race and place impact quality of life in King County. People of color, low-income residents and immigrants 

and refugees persistently face inequities in key educational, economic and health outcomes. Our 

responsibility to remedy these conditions is not only a moral imperative; inequities undermine our collective 

prosperity and threaten our region’s ability to remain globally competitive. As long as race and place are 

predictors of well-being, our vision for a King County where all people have equitable opportunities to thrive 

remains elusive. 

We also recognize that many of our government policies and practices have historically been designed to 

react to problems and crises in our communities after they arise. Using a “stream” metaphor, these 

problems are the downstream results of inequities that exist in social, physical, and economic conditions in 

our community (also known as our “determinants of equity”). Moving upstream allows us to examine the 

root causes of these conditions and create solutions that operate at a systems and structural level, 

ultimately preventing crises and problems from occurring and leading to healthier, more equitable 

outcomes.

As people are not all situated the same, with the same opportunities to thrive, pro-equity policies and 

practices are designed to account for these differences. Focusing on the people and places where needs are 

greatest leads to improved outcomes for everyone.

Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic increased existing inequities. While the effects of the pandemic 

were far-reaching and universally felt, the impact of those effects were disproportionately distributed. For 

groups that lacked access to quality health care, the pandemic increased existing barriers. For low- and 

moderate-income households that already faced greater economic insecurity, the pandemic magnified 

these challenges. Essential workers, whose jobs required in-person, public-facing interactions, faced greater 

risks of contracting COVID-19. Workers in industries such as hospitality, tourism, and food service suffered 

high rates of unemployment. And in each of these categories, BIPOC communities were overrepresented 

compared to the overall share of the population. 

The pandemic multiplied the effect of existing inequities and created new and stark disparities in impact. To 

track these effects, King County & Seattle Public Health created several dashboards to identify and quantify 

the disproportionate impact of the pandemic. The Social and Economic Inequities and COVID-19 Outcomes 

dashboard utilized the social and economic risk index (SERI) to consider how six different factors 

(race/ethnicity/language/place of birth, number of occupants per household, percentage of adults in 

essential healthcare-related occupations, percentage of adults in essential non-healthcare occupations, 

percentage of adults 25+ with less than a college degree, and percentage of households with income less 

than 200% of federal poverty limit) effected key COVID outcomes, such as testing, positivity rates, 

hospitalization, and death rates varied among these groups. 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 8

Figure 1 - SERI Dashboard results from March 2021

The dashboard shows that rates of COVID-19 cases, hospitalization, and deaths were greatest for people of 

color, those without a college degree, and low-income individuals. At the same time, these communities had 

the lowest rates of testing. Disparities in vaccination rates persist in Black and Latinx communities, and 

South King County, the region with the lowest SERI score, has the lowest rate of vaccination. While making 

inequities visible is a key first step in furthering County’s pro-equity initiatives, progress cannot be made 

without a realignment in vision and policy.

Racism is a Public Health Crisis

On June 11, 2020, Public Health –Seattle & King County and King County government declared that racism is 

a public health crisis and committed to implementing a racially equitable response to this crisis, centering 

on community. In acknowledging this, King County acknowledged its own complicity in perpetuating 

structural racism and committed to dismantling systems that are rooted in white supremacy. 

This commitment includes a commitment to working in stronger and better-resourced partnerships with 

community organizations and leaders, using quantitative data, and the know-how of community leaders 

and residents to get to solutions that work. In order to facilitate this work, King County will drive resources 

toward where they are most needed as indicated by those in that community. 

This declaration, coming in the midst of a pandemic which exacerbated and magnified the inequities faced 

by BIPOC-communities, has informed how the county intends to use its CLFR funding, not only in terms of 

public health related programs but across the full spectrum of Revive and Thrive programs. As the SERI data 

makes clear, the public health effects of COVID-19 are inextricable from the economic impacts of the 

pandemic, which are in turn driven by long-standing inequities in education, jobs, and housing for people of 

color. The Revive & Thrive effort is centered on fostering an equitable recovery that addresses the 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 9

disproportionate impact of the pandemic on communities by developing and sustaining meaningful 

partnerships with those communities. 

Pro-Equity Tools for Program Design

King County has developed or identified pro-equity tools for program design. This inventory includes:

a. Equity Impact Review Tool

b. Office of Equity and Social Justice (OESJ) Consultation

a. OESJ Demographic Map

c. Determinants of Equity Report

d. ESJ Strategic Plan

e. Communities Count Population Dashboard

f. Public Health COVID 19 Dashboards

i. Social and economic inequities and COVID-19 Outcomes

ii. Economic, social, and overall health impacts

iii. Race and ethnicity

g. Washington State Report Card – Information on K-12 schools

h. King County Executive Order – Pro-Equity Contracting

Program designers are encouraged to utilize these assets to identify those most in need and manage county 

resources to further equity in the community. These tools are being employed to ensure that all 

communities and residents benefit from Revive & Thrive programs and that there is an equitable recovery 

from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community Engagement 

Community engagement is central to King County’s pro-equity agenda. Several programs are intended to be 

largely community directed, and many programs will rely on partnerships with community-based 

organizations for implementation. 

King County recognizes the need and urgency for more direct investments for BIPOC communities to 

improve economic opportunity and wellbeing. King County’s Office of Equity and Social Justice is working 

diligently to establish the Racism as a Public Health Crisis Community Oversight Committee, which will 

equitably direct the use of $25 million for pandemic-related economic recovery of communities that have 

been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The Community Oversight Committee will be 

responsible for establishing and leading the decision-making processes for the fund. The committee will 

focus on community priorities and advancing economic justice for residents of King County. In the coming 

months, the committee will engage with community partners to develop the governance structure and will 

listen and adapt to community feedback. That feedback will be used to inform the approaches to be used by 

the committee.

The Community Mitigation and Recovery program was launched early in the pandemic, with a focus on 

community engagement. Anticipating that COVID-19 would inevitably disproportionately impact 

underserved communities, Public Health launched this initiative to leverage community engagement to 

mitigate that impact. Very early on, CMR established a power-sharing structure that was composed of BIPOC 

community members, staff, and leadership to advise and hold the department accountable to its 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 10

commitment to community and equity principles. These programs were non-standard governmental 

operations that required task force leaders to be reflective of underserved communities and to be able to 

tap into trusted relationships. As a result, they were able to authentically partner with community and to 

bring their skills and knowledge to the forefront of the department’s response efforts. The strategies and 

activities have been co-created with community partners with an eye to address both the immediate needs 

and historic challenges faced by marginalized groups as a result of systemic racism. Moreover, staff and 

leadership have established mechanisms for reconciliation and restorative practice when the department 

and/or county has erred. This has helped in developing trust and strengthening relationships with our 

partners.

As an example, the Community-Based Organizations (CBO) task force was established, and it created and 

managed the Community Navigator program, a new approach to effectively sharing county resources, 

knowledge, and information by collaborating with our underserved communities and gathering timely 

feedback on community needs. Community Navigators share COVID-19 information and resources in 

culturally and linguistically appropriate ways for their respective communities, for example: calling people 

on the phone or using social media to provide the latest COVID-19 information, delivering supplies to the 

most vulnerable community members, assisting community members with filling out forms, and facilitating 

online meetings. Navigators also provide liaison support and surface concerns from underserved 

communities to County officials regularly.

In addition, King County is working to develop a timeline and process for phased grantmaking and 

contracting opportunities for direct investments in communities for the funding allocated through CLFR. The 

first phase of funding and contracting opportunities will likely be available to community in late summer

2021. The goal of the grant program is to align grantmaking with communities’ priorities for an equitable 

recovery and strategically positioning these resources to meet the urgent needs of the communities now.

Labor Practices 

The County’s Office of Labor Relations (OLR) negotiates, implements, and administers 81 collective 

bargaining agreements with 33 unions covering the terms of employment for the County’s approximately 

12,000 represented employees. We accomplish this by negotiating agreements that contribute to King 

County’s goals of service, excellence, financial stewardship, public engagement, and quality workforce. King 

County strives to optimize labor management partnerships that embrace innovation and stewardship of 

resources. 

King County explores the use of a project labor agreement (PLA) for county projects when appropriate. PLAs 

are considered for projects that have a complex scope, a multi-year schedule, a budget of significant size, 

and/or a clear public benefit. When a PLA is implemented, the general contractor and relevant trade unions 

shall execute the PLA in a form acceptable to the county.

The county also considers including community workforce elements in PLAs to include targeted hiring goals. In 

addition to providing direct benefits to workers, community workforce elements support local and regional 

economic growth through hiring and support of small business, increase job access for disadvantaged 

workers, provide workers with job training, develop a skilled workforce to support local contractors, and 

increase the capacity of small minority- and women-owned business to compete and participate in public 

works contracts. 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 11

Washington State requires contractors to pay prevailing wage when a project is funded by public dollars or is a 

turn-key project, meaning a private construction resulting from government agency agreements to rent, lease, 

or purchase and the project involves construction, reconstruction, maintenance, or repair. 

Use of Evidence 

As King County staff undertake program design, they use existing data, research, and best practices to 

inform programmatic development. Community data is used to understand the varying needs of 

communities and to conduct equity analyses to prioritize service investments. When practicable and costeffective, the county incorporates evidence-based interventions into its programs. The decisions to adopt 

evidence-based models in programmatic interventions lives with program staff who are the subject matter 

experts and closest to understanding the population’s needs.

Evidence-based interventions refer to processes, procedures, programs, or policies that have been 

rigorously studied and proven effective. In order to utilize evidence-based interventions, programs must 

follow evidence-based models with fidelity and must closely monitor fidelity during implementation to 

ensure that program will produce the desired outcomes. Thus, while the county’s practices are informed by 

the available evidence, it is not always feasible or desirable to utilize evidence-based interventions. At times, 

those models may not be the best fit for the populations being served. In which case, program leadership 

decides to customize the program to better meet existing community needs. 

The U.S. Treasury encourages jurisdictions to consider conducting program evaluations on new or 

innovative programs in order to build evidence of efficacy. While this approach can magnify the long-term 

impact of a program, it requires intensive oversight, significant cost, and careful planning in order to include 

program evaluations in program design. The investment of time and resources for program evaluation must 

be weighed against the acute and immediate need of the community for recovery and relief programs. 

The county’s SLFRF-funded programs are largely still in design, so how the use of evidence, evidence-based 

interventions, and program evaluations will be incorporated remains to be decided. At this point, it is 

anticipated that most programs will take an evidence-informed rather than an evidence-based approach, 

and it appears unlikely that most will elect to dedicate funding to the substantial effort of program 

evaluation. 

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category

Category

Cumulative

expenditures to 

date ($)

Amount spent since 

last Recovery Plan

1 Expenditure Category: Public Health

1.2 COVID-19 Testing $2,148 $2,148

1.4 Prevention in Congregate Settings $1,236,533 $1,236,533

1.8

Other COVID-19 Public Health Expenses (including 

Communications, Enforcement, 

Isolation/Quarantine) $2,168,920 $2,168,920
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 12

Category

Cumulative

expenditures to 

date ($)

Amount spent since 

last Recovery Plan

1.9

Payroll Costs for Public Health, Safety, and Other 

Public Sector Staff Responding to COVID-19 $2,768,965 $2,768,965

2 Expenditure Category: Negative Economic Impacts

2.10 Aid to nonprofit organizations $318.08 $318.08

2.14 Rehiring Public Sector Staff $144,466.75 $144,466.75

3 Expenditure Category: Services to 

Disproportionately Impacted Communities

3.14 Social Determinants of Health: Community Health 

Workers or Benefits Navigators $7,587.88 $7,587.88

7 Administrative and Other

7.1 Administrative Expenses $60,979.50 $60,979.50

Total $6,399,906 $6,399,906

Categories omitted from the table have no cumulative expenditures to date.

Project Inventory 

An overview of the programs and projects that have entered implementation or established their eligibility 

for federal CLFR-funding is provided in the following inventory. 

CSGER-DPH-ACA Health Care Access and Outreach

Funding Amount: $500,000 

Expenditure Category: 3.14 Social Determinants of Health: Community Health Workers or 

Benefits Navigators

Overview of Program: The program seeks to reduce the uninsured rate in the community by 

enrolling individuals in health care insurance through the ACA Special 

Enrollment period. Remote and socially distant in-person events will focus 

on the underserved and disproportionately impacted communities, 

including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community. In 

addition to increasing access to health care, the program seeks to build 

relationships with these communities to increase access, eliminate health 

disparities, and increase equity in all health care services. The program will 

run from May-December 2021. The primary delivery mechanisms include 

health fairs, trainings, and other enrollment events. The enrollment 

activities are also being paired with pop-up testing and vaccination events. 

King County provides the outreach, education, scheduling, location, tents,

and other supplies. Partners will vary depending on location. Some 

examples include Skyway Fire Station, Grocery Outlet store, Cierra Sisters, 

HealthPoint, and Harborview.

Use of Evidence: This program utilizes a “data-informed” approach rather than an evidencebased intervention. Data was used to identify populations that have 

existing health disparities and are underserved from a public health 

perspective. These communities were disproportionately impacted by the 

COVID-19 pandemic, increasing the need for outreach. 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 13

CSGER-DCHS-JustCare JustCARE Extension

Funding Amount: $4,450,000 

Expenditure Category: 1.4 Prevention in Congregate Settings

Overview of Program: Street outreach combined with hotel-based lodging is one component of 

King County’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of the 

services procured herein is to reduce COVID-19’s impact on homeless 

populations by providing temporary housing and wraparound supports to 

adults living unsheltered in the Pioneer Square, Chinatown/International 

District and other downtown neighborhoods. By providing non-congregate 

temporary housing options, these services will have the first order effect 

of preventing and/or reducing community transmission of COVID-19 and 

may also work to reduce the impact of tent encampment sweeps and 

other law enforcement responses to homelessness which carry their own 

public health risks, COVID-19 and otherwise. The program is currently 

underway and is expected to continue through June 2022. The Public 

Defenders Association (PDA) is the contractor, and along with 

subcontractors, provides hoteling and case management services to 

people experiencing homelessness in the Pioneer Square/International 

District neighborhoods of Seattle.

Use of Evidence: This program utilizes a “data-informed” approach rather than and 

evidence-based intervention. The Housing First model has been shown to 

be effective in addressing homelessness and supporting people with 

behavioral health disorders. This program implements this approach but 

does not replicate existing methodologies with fidelity.

CSGER-DLS-SBAP Unincorporated King County Small Business Support 

Funding Amount: $4,500,000 

Expenditure Category: 2.9 Small Business Economic Assistance

Overview of Program: This program provides grants of up to $25,000 to reimburse costs 

associated with COVID-19 restrictions and the continuity of business 

operations for eligible small businesses in unincorporated King County. 

Grants to businesses can be used to reimburse a wide variety of business 

expenses disrupted by COVID-19 closures and impacts. This program seeks 

to distribute funds to small businesses who are most at risk due to the 

impacts of COVID-19 and those for whom business losses have the 

greatest impact on the owner(s)’ and employees' quality of life. This 

program will focus its efforts in areas with historic inequities, including 

investment in census tracts designated as QCTs by HUD. To support this 

goal, the program adopted a broad outreach strategy that incorporates 

on-the-ground events, direct outreach to previously identified eligible 

businesses, social media advertising, and in-language radio interviews. To 

ensure equitable access, the program fully translated the website and 

application in the five languages most prevalent in our service area. 

Applications were collected July-Aug 2021, with award determinations 

occurring late August. Disbursement is expected from August-November 

2021. 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 14

Use of Evidence: The program does not employ evidence-based interventions. 

CSGER-DPH-Food Food Security Program

Funding Amount: $5,000,000 

Expenditure Category: 2.10 Aid to Nonprofit Organizations

Overview of Program: The program will provide Food Security Assistance for Food Programs for 

approximately 6,600 households. The program will engage one agency or 

organization to manage the contracts with approximately twenty 

community-based organizations (CBOs). The CBOs will purchase, store, 

and distribute culturally appropriate foods and other food items as part of 

the program. The program will prioritize but is not limited to purchasing 

food from locally owned/operated grocery stores, farms, catering 

companies, restaurants, growers, hunters, and fishers. The program will 

prioritize but will not be limited to supporting community-based 

organizations who serve populations disproportionately affected by food 

insecurity to sustain their food distribution models that have been key to 

meeting community cultural food needs. This program is in development 

and timeline and partners have yet to be identified.

Use of Evidence: This program utilizes a “data-informed” approach rather than and 

evidence-based intervention. Data is used to identify groups and/or areas 

most likely to experience food insecurity and ensure that program 

resources are accessible to those most in need.

KCOPS-DCHS-COVIDOps DCHS COVID-19 Program Staff Support

Funding Amount: $8,000,000 

Expenditure Category: 7.1 Administrative Expenses

Overview of Program: The King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) 

manages a range of programs and services to help our county's most 

vulnerable residents while working to strengthen our communities. The 

department's COVID-19 focused programs are an extension of its central 

mission. This program will fund staff support in DCHS for administration, 

monitoring, and evaluation of COVID-19 programs. This program is 

internally focused and is ongoing.

Use of Evidence: The program does not employ evidence-based interventions. 

KCOPS-DLS-Permit Permitting Division Support

Funding Amount: $4,125,000 

Expenditure Category: 2.14 Rehiring Public Sector Staff

Overview of Program: The King County Permitting Division provides land use, building, and fire,

regulatory, and operating permits, code enforcement, and a limited 

number of business licenses in unincorporated areas of the county. Since 

the pandemic, the division has experienced a large backlog of building 

permit applications. The backlog was a direct result of COVID-19 social 

distancing policies, which required immediate operational changes such as 

shifting staff to remote work, and logistical conversion of many paperbased permit application processes into an online tool. The conversion 

was successful but required several months to complete, during which 

time productivity was reduced. Unanticipated staff attrition in 2020 due to 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 15

COVID-19 further reduced permit review capacity, creating bottlenecks, 

especially in the residential drainage engineering workgroup, where all 

five engineers left county employment or transferred to other positions. 

Until additional resources are allocated for temporary staff, overtime for 

existing staff, hiring of consultants, and the purchase of workflow 

management software to increase productivity, the building permit 

backlogs will continue and slow the economic recovery initially caused by 

the public health emergency. The implementation of this program is 

ongoing and is expected to continue through 2022. No external partners 

have been identified.

Use of Evidence: The program does not employ evidence-based interventions. 

KCOPS-KCSC-Backlog King County Superior Court Backlog

Funding Amount: $10,896,000 

Expenditure Category: 1.9 Payroll Costs for Public Health, Safety, and Other Public Sector Staff 

Responding to COVID-19

Overview of Program: This program provides funding for existing court functions, to mitigate 

backlogs created by COVID-19. It is intended to restore pending trials and 

the wait time for hearings to pre-COVID levels. It will also respond to 

higher demand for court services and greater complexity of utilizing 

technology and new procedures necessitated by remote/video 

participation. Expenditures include additional staffing and infrastructure, 

such as technology for remote jury selection. Other expenditures include 

training and intranet/website to allow court activity to continue in a 

standardized manner utilizing new processes and procedures that were 

adopted during COVID and continue to be necessary due to changing and 

unpredictable requirements for assembling large groups of people in small 

areas. Expenditures for court activity that are not trial related, such as 

family law, allow those matters to continue at pre-COVID capacity, which 

would accommodate increased demand, increased complexity of remote 

participation, or would mitigate a necessity to reallocate those existing 

resources to criminal matters. Funding has been provided March 2021 -

December 2022, however, some of the program activities will most likely 

extend beyond then. This work is internally focused, and no external 

partnerships are planned.

Use of Evidence: The program does not employ evidence-based interventions. 

PHR-DCHS-Dsites Shelter Deintensification Program

Funding Amount: $6,000,000 

Expenditure Category: 1.8 Other COVID-19 Public Health Expenses (including Communications, 

Enforcement, Isolation/Quarantine)

Overview of Program: Shelter deintensification took what were formerly congregate shelters for 

people experiencing homelessness, with individuals sleeping in very close 

proximity, and moved them to hotels. This included both moving entire 

shelters to hotels and moving some units of a shelter to hotels. This was 

undertaken to reduce shelter density for purposes of the physical 

distancing and health measures, including private restrooms and showers, 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 16

required to limit the transmission of the virus and protect vulnerable 

individuals experiencing homelessness – a population otherwise deemed 

by the CDC as at high risk of COVID-19. This program serves a population 

disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and particularly those with 

health conditions making one more vulnerable to COVID, and age. The 

program includes leasing of hotels and contracting with not-for-profit 

providers where entire shelters moved. Where units were reduced, the 

county has contracted with not-for-profit providers that rented hotel 

rooms. Partners include Catholic Community Services and Downtown 

Emergency Services Center. 

Use of Evidence: A team of researchers from the University of Washington and the King 

County Department of Community and Human Services was engaged to 

study the impacts of this programmatic intervention. This study, published 

in November 2020, used a mixed methods approach to understand the 

effects and outcomes on individuals who were moved to non-congregate 

hotel settings. See Impact of Hotels as Non-Congregate Emergency 

Shelters.

PHR-DCHS-IQSiteOps Isolation and Quarantine Site Operations

Funding Amount: $3,300,000 

Expenditure Category: 1.8 Other COVID-19 Public Health Expenses (including Communications, 

Enforcement, Isolation/Quarantine)

Overview of Program: The isolation and quarantine sites serve to reduce the spread of illness and 

keep hospital beds available for people with acute healthcare needs. 

While most people will isolate and recover in their own homes, temporary 

housing is needed for those who cannot safely isolate and recover in their 

homes and for those who do not have homes. The facilities are open to 

families with children, individuals, essential workers, people living in 

multigenerational households, first responders, travelers and people 

experiencing homelessness. Expenditures cover congregate care facilities 

that will provide public health supervised care to symptomatic or COVID 

positive adults who are not able to follow public health guidance for 

isolation, quarantine, or recovery in their own home, or do not have a 

home. Examples include travelers, symptomatic or COVID-positive people 

who cannot safely isolate away from a medically fragile or high-risk 

individuals (senior, immune-compromised child) in their home, or people 

experiencing homelessness. It can also provide flex space for hospitals to 

discharge non-emergency COVID cases, freeing up space for more acute 

patients. At a minimum, the Isolation and Quarantine capacity will need to 

exist until the end of the declared public health emergency. 

Use of Evidence: The program does not employ evidence-based interventions. 

PHR-DPH-CMR Community Mitigation and Recovery

Funding Amount: $4,239,843 

Expenditure Category: 1.8 Other COVID-19 Public Health Expenses (including Communications, 

Enforcement, Isolation/Quarantine)
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 17

Overview of Program: Anticipating that COVID-19 would inevitably disproportionately impact 

underserved communities, the CMR program sought to engage these 

communities in the development of COVID-19 response. These programs 

were non-standard governmental operations that were able to 

authentically partner with community and to bring their skills and 

knowledge to the forefront of the department’s response efforts. The 

program facilitated two-way communication with key sectors, such as 

government, small businesses, faith-based organizations, school and 

childcare, and higher education, and helped to bridge relationships and 

provide technical assistance. The program also established teams and 

liaisons focused on accessibility, language access, community 

organizations, immigrants, and refugees, and the Latinx and LGBTQ+ 

communities. Examples of two key and impactful community-facing teams 

are the Pandemic & Racism Community Advisory Group (PARCAG) and the 

Community Navigator program. The program has three outcomes: 1) to 

minimize inequities in disease and utilization of interventions that are 

community-informed; 2) community participation and partnerships drive 

desired outcomes, decisions, resource allocation, program design, and 

results across the determinants of equity; and 3) community 

systematically drives pro-equity structural changes that increase equitable 

access to the determinants of equity and reduce health, social, and 

economic inequities.

Use of Evidence: This program utilizes a “data-informed” approach rather than and 

evidence-based intervention. Data was used to identify populations that 

have existing health disparities and are underserved from a public health 

perspective. These communities were disproportionately impacted by the 

COVID-19 pandemic, increasing the need for outreach. 

PHR-DPH-HMACODIR HMAC and PICC

Funding Amount: $9,499,388 

Expenditure Category: 1.9 Payroll Costs for Public Health, Safety, and Other Public Sector Staff 

Responding to COVID-19

Overview of Program: HMAC is the incident management system for ongoing departmental 

COVID-19 response coordination and accountability and ensures 

alignment with national practices and compliance with federal 

requirements. HMAC provides consistent coordination and support for all 

major response activities across the department and serves as a central 

coordination and support entity. Major activities: staffing all PH COVID 

activity meetings; coordinating resources; coordinating and convening 

briefings; producing situation reports and incident action plans; 

centralized document collection; transition planning and intra-action 

review. The PICC (Public Information Contact Center) is the call center 

operated by King County to answer our community's questions regarding 

the COVID-19 pandemic. This call center helped public find and register for 

testing and vaccination appointments, answered medical questions 

regarding COVID, provided Isolation and Quarantine intake, and interfaced 

with Communicable Disease during outbreaks. At a minimum, this 

program will need to continue until the end of the public health 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 18

emergency, but is dependent on other COVID activities in department, as 

this program provides back-bone and incident management support. This 

is an internally focused program.

Use of Evidence: The program does not employ evidence-based interventions. 

CSGER-DCHS-Cole ad Co-LEAD South King County

Funding Amount: $750,000 

Expenditure Category: 1.12 Other Public Health Services

Overview of Program: Co-LEAD South King County operates in Burien and utilizes an adapted Law 

Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) model to deploy a rapid response 

to homelessness and public safety amid COVID-19. Co-LEAD outreach 

responders receive referrals from Burien Police Department and conducts 

street outreach as an entry point to services. Expenditures include case 

management to place individuals in hotel rooms to support social 

distancing, hazard pay premiums for case managers working directly with 

participants, personal protective equipment purchases, and additional 

case management costs associated with moving to a 24/7 case 

management model during the crisis. The program support allows law 

enforcement to meet the objective of having no one living in the parks, 

without booking people into SCORE while also following CDC guidelines 

regarding not scattering encampment residents but rather providing 

individualized lodging/housing. The program is expected to continue 

through at least December 2022. The Public Defender Association (PDA) is 

the main partner who works with the Sheriff's Office.

Use of Evidence: This program utilizes a “data-informed” approach rather than and 

evidence-based intervention. Data is used to track and measure the 

program outcomes.

PHR-EH-Vent Safe Start - Ventilation Program

Funding Amount: $2,500,000 

Expenditure Category: 1.9 Payroll Costs for Public Health, Safety, and Other Public Sector Staff 

Responding to COVID-19

Overview of Program: To reduce the spread of COVID-19 during the reopening and recovery 

phase, this program will focus on expanding ventilation technical 

assistance (TA), community education and supply distribution to those 

most in need in the priority sectors (e.g., childcares, schools, public 

buildings, religious institutions, event venues, and other congregate 

settings and vulnerable households). Our TA will focus on ventilation but 

will also include water, sanitation, and hygiene; creating safe outdoor 

space; and responding to other emerging environmental health issues to 

help reduce COVID-19 transmission and other disease risks. The EHS 

Division’s staff and community-based contractors will provide technical 

assistance and community education related to indoor air quality, 

ventilation, and other building health issues. Part of this effort will also be 

to procure and distribute portable HEPA air purifier units and box fan filter 

kits to high priority sites based on equity, COVID-19, vaccination rates, and 

air pollution data. The program is projected to last until December 2022. 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 19

The program is partnering with CBOs to conduct targeted outreach about 

the ventilation technical assistance service and HEPA and box fan filter 

supply distribution. We also are providing communications (e.g., enewsletter) to outreach about the program.

Use of Evidence: This program is developing an evaluation plan, but we anticipate it to be a 

mixed-methods approach (e.g., survey and key informant interviews) and 

cover the evaluation of the program’s process, reach (demographics, 

geographic, etc.) and short-term outcomes assessed through follow-up 

post-surveys (e.g., intention to adopt at least one recommendation and 

change in awareness). The study will not be a randomized or quasiexperimental design, and therefore will not be generalizable or require 

statistical power. We anticipate completing the evaluation after the 

program activities have been completed. This program does not 

specifically include interventions based on evidence from the public health 

literature. Rather, we are supporting the distribution of ventilation 

supplies recommended by CDC and our small pilot work in 2020.

PHR-DPH-EHSSTART Safe Start - Tavern and Restaurant Program 

Funding Amount: $2,165,662 

Expenditure Category: 1.9 Payroll Costs for Public Health, Safety, and Other Public Sector Staff 

Responding to COVID-19

Overview of Program: The Safe Starts for Taverns and Restaurants (SSTAR) Program provides 

technical assistance, community outreach, and enforcement for food 

establishment compliance with COVID-19 transmission risk reduction 

measures outlined in Governor Inslee’s Safe Start Reopening Plan and the 

subsequent Washington State Roadmap to Recovery. Major activities of 

the program include: conducting food establishment site assessments to 

determine compliance with COVID-19 prevention measures; provisioning 

of technical assistance to increase compliance rates; distributing of 

educational materials in multiple languages; compliance enforcement and 

temporary suspension of food establishment operating permits for 

facilities in gross non-compliance; mobile outreach to provide technical 

assistance and resource distribution to assist facilities with compliance; 

and allocating of financial assistance funding to assist food establishments 

cope with increased operational costs associated with compliance with 

COVID-19 prevention measures. The program is projected to continue 

through December 2022. The SSTAR program has engaged in contracts 

with community partners (e.g., community-based organizations, business 

neighborhood associations and local Economic Development Offices) that 

prioritize education and outreach in high-needs or highly impacted 

geographic areas in King County (as guided by disparity data on COVID-19 

transmission rates, vaccination rates, social, health, and economic 

inequities, and air pollution disparities). 

Use of Evidence: A program evaluation for the SSTAR Financial Assistance program, funded 

under CRF, was completed in April 2021. The purpose of this evaluation 

was to determine the importance, challenges, lessons learned, and 

successes of the program; to determine if financial assistance was 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 20

distributed equitably to businesses with non-English speaking and 

minority-owned businesses; and to provide recommendations for future 

financial assistance programs for small businesses. Future evaluation of 

the newly expanded effort to provide ventilation/indoor air quality 

technical assistance, community education, and HEPA supplies to small 

food establishments and other sectors will be conducted.

KCOPS-FMD-CubeRSVP Cube Reservation Technology

Funding Amount: $380,000 

Expenditure Category: 1.8 Other COVID-19 Public Health Expenses (including Communications, 

Enforcement, Isolation/Quarantine)

Overview of Program: The program will enable employees working from home to have a reliable 

means to reserve an office workspace when they come into the office to 

work. It is anticipated that many employees will remain on at least partial 

telecommute status through the duration of the pandemic, and many 

departments and divisions have retooled their office footprint to support 

more hybrid work, assuming that some employees may remain offsite 

while others will be gathered in the office. Cube reservation software will 

be a critical tool in ensuring the productivity of that model. The funds will 

be used to procure and implement a software solution. These programs 

are internally focused.

Use of Evidence: The program does not employ evidence-based interventions.

Performance Report

King County is currently engaged in program design and eligibility determinations for most ARPA-funded 

programs and identifying performance metrics is an ongoing activity. Subsequent Recovery 

Plan Performance Reports will include a more complete list of metrics and data. The initial performance 

report will focus on King County approaches to performance measurement—both broadly and for this 

funding specifically.

Background on King County’s Performance Measurement Approach

King County has been at the forefront of performance measurement, working on enterprise-level 

performance measurement since 2003. The County has been recognized for this work on numerous 

occasions, most recently as the recipient of the 2019 Center for Accountability and Performance

Organizational Leadership Award, given by the American Society of Public Administration. 

The County’s performance measurement approach began with KingStat in the early 2000s. In 2013 the 

Executive Branch leadership updated the approach across all departments to reflect the County’s 

incorporation of Lean management principles. It started implementing organizational performance 

discussions using visual management tools called tier boards and management review sessions called 

roundings or operations review meetings. The identification of performance measures has been required in 

the biennial business planning process and investment monitoring. In addition, some departments have 

performance measurement and evaluation units to support comprehensive reporting to funders across a 

variety of health and human services and transportation functions.
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 21

The 

performance measurement work is aligned to King County’s Lean Maturity Model, which departments are 

using to develop their Lean management maturity in variety of areas (see below for the levels of maturity 

for performance measurement). The model encourages the use of data disaggregation, performance 

targets, equity performance reviews, and aligned sets of process, output, and outcome measures. PSB has 

trained nearly 700 staff across the organization by offering training courses quarterly since 2016.

Regional Indicators

While measurement of individual programs is key to producing meaningful outcomes for the region, the 

overall success of these programs cannot be understood without a clear picture of the regional economic, 

social, and health indicators. The Office of Economic and Financial Analysis (OEFA) produces economic and 

revenue forecasts for King County budgeting purposes and guidance. This office utilizes both national and 

regional data to inform decision making by county leaders. Public Health – Seattle and King County tracks 

social indicators of well-being in various dashboards. Public Health also has several dashboards related to 

the pandemic, which are essential to understanding where resources are needed for recovery. These 

include tracking of testing, positive cases, hospitalization rates, deaths, and vaccination rates.

Key Indicators of COVID-19 

Public Health – Seattle and King County maintain several dashboards related to the pandemic. The Daily 

COVID-19 Outbreak Summary tracks a variety of various output measures, including the number of cases, 

positivity rates, hospitalizations, and deaths due to COVID-19. The Key Indicators of COVID-19 Activity

utilizes these data points to calculate community transmission levels and trends in hospitalizations and 

deaths to monitor both the pandemic and the capacity for regional response. Currently, the region is 

experiencing another wave of transmission, largely due to prevalence of the delta variant. While the high 

rate of community spread is concerning, the risk of death from COVID-19 and the hospitalization rates 

remain below levels from other times of peak COVID-19 spread. 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 22

Figure 2 - Visual from the "Key Indicators of COVID-19 Activity" dashboard 

Vaccination rates are tracked separately and allow policy makers to closely track local efforts, including 

viewing disaggregated data by race, age, gender, and geography. At this time, over three million doses have 

been administered, and over 75% of the eligible population has completed their vaccine series. The 

relatively high rate of vaccination in the region has buffered the impacts of the delta variant on 

hospitalization and death rates. 

Economic Indicators 

The Office of Economic and Financial Analysis tracks several key 

economic indicators related to the local economy, including job 

growth, house prices, taxable sales, and inflation. OEFA shares 

this information in the EconoPulse newsletter. For the first 

quarter of 2021, house prices, taxable sales and inflation all 

showed considerable growth over the first quarter of 2020, 

suggesting the local economic recovery was continuing. 

However, job growth remained well below pre-pandemic levels. 

Certain sectors, such as hospitality, experienced more 

precipitous losses and continue to have lag the overall levels of 

employment growth. 

To further understand how the economic 

recovery differs by sector, OEFA began 

measuring taxable retail sales by sector using 

the 6-digit NAICS code and tracking the count 

of taxpaying businesses by utilizing the 

unified business identifier number (UBI) 

issued by Washington State Department of 

Revenue. This allowed OEFA to develop a 

"taxable sales per UBI" metric that measures 

the average taxable sales of all taxpaying 

businesses in a given sector each month. 

Figure 3 - Key Economic Indicators from Q1 2021

EconoPulse
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 23

A visualization of this measure is shown for dining establishment. It shows that the pandemics effects were 

felt most sharply by bars, followed by full-service restaurants. All three types of establishments show a 

sharp increase from February to March. 

Finally, OEFA publishes an Economic Forecast twice a 

year, which is used by policy makers and agencies for 

fiscal planning. This forecast model tracks 

employment, personal income, the consumer price 

index, housing permits, population, and taxable retail 

sales. Because much of King County’s revenue is 

directly related to these metrics, the forecast is vital 

to determining the levels of available funding for 

government to spend. 

Other Economic, Social and Health Indicators

Figure 4 - "Key Economic, Social, and Overall Health Impacts"

Public Health – Seattle and King County assembled a dashboard to monitor several indicators of economic, 

social, and overall health impacts. These indictors include measures related to economic stability, housing, 

food insecurity, education, health care, behavioral health, and overall health. These indicators provide a 
KING COUNTY 2021 RECOVERY PLAN 24

more holistic view of the pandemic and allow policy makers to access demographic and other detailed data 

in order to focus programs where the needs are greatest in the community. 

SLFRF Funded Programs 

To support this initial phase, King County is first sharing the performance measurement requirements and 

expectations with program staff so they may incorporate them into their program design and contract 

development. 

Coupled with this communication, King County’s Performance and Strategy team is providing program staff 

with tools to promote logic model development and identification of associated process, output, and 

outcome metrics. The team is also encouraging programs to collect data on these metrics that are 

disaggregated by programmatically meaningful demographics such as race, place, gender, income status, 

among other categories. The team has developed tip sheets on performance metrics and logic models and 

is offering customized training and technical assistance upon request.

King County will first rely upon the subject matter expertise of program staff to identify meaningful output 

and outcome performance metrics that are able to be disaggregated. Next, the team will look for 

opportunities for alignment in related bodies of work to form “portfolios” for more aggregate reporting 

within King County’s ARPA-funded bodies of work. The need to balance the number and complexity of 

performance metrics with the data collection capacity of community-based organizations most appropriate 

for equitable service provision will be kept under consideration as metrics are developed.

King County staff have also begun conversations with the City of Seattle to coordinate portfolio metrics, 

enhancing the ability to report on the impact of the ARPA funds in the Seattle-King County region in 

recognition that the collective goal is to improve outcomes for residents. This alignment will begin once 

programs move out of the program design phase into implementation.

Development of performance measures is ongoing, and none of programs have finalized measures. 

Programs that fall into an expenditure category with a required measurement will incorporate those 

measures into the program design.