Conversation With The Governor

Meeting With The Governor And Her Staff

This afternoon, Greg Devereux and I met with Governor Christine Gregoire and her staff. The topics we touched on were the selection of a Children’s Administration Director, working condition changes in Children’s Administration, potential institution closures, barriers to good customer service, natural resources issues, mental health, and the issues resulting from what occurred with our contracts last year.

We asked about the Natural Resources study and were told that the study is virtually a list of all ideas, good and bad, in order to allow for public comment on all of it. We were told there will be no “vetting” of ideas by officials prior to public release. We were told the public will be given ample time to provide comments and no group will be given advanced copies of the study.

Pierce County Mental Health RSN plans to release patients prior to October 1st. Prior to this meeting, we were told that current residents in that program will need to be housed at Western State Hospital temporarily until the new vendor has facilities in place. The impacts of that arrangement need to be discussed because of the manner in which DSHS has contracted for those services. Those discussions have not yet occurred. We requested the meeting be held timely.

The Children’s Administration Director decision has not been made. The Governor is, as yet, unaware of any major changes in working conditions at Children’s Administration due to HB2106. We shared information provided by members with her. Please make comments about changes you see in Children’s in the comment box below.

We only had one hour to raise our concerns with her and as you all know – our concerns would take longer than an hour to express. However, we did cover a wide range of subjects, sharing your issues with her.




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