EVERETT, Wash. – Snohomish County unveiled Monday its new Network of Care for Service Members, Veterans & Their Families Program, which is designed to bring together multiple services geared toward and dedicated to veterans and their families in a one-stop-shopping format.
Through the Network of Care program, Snohomish County can now link veterans to everything from how and where they can find out what federal benefits they are eligible for to what state and local services might be available for employment, housing assistance, counseling, transportation or even childcare.
“It has always been my office’s priority to increase resources for the women and men of Snohomish County who have served in the military,” said Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon. “We owe our veterans a debt of gratitude for their service as well as top-notch services. In Snohomish County, they can be sure they will receive it.”
“We are excited to bring this web-based program to our community,” said Councilman John Koster, president of the Washington Association of Counties and board member of the National Association of Counties. “It is an excellent source to care for our men and women veterans returning from overseas. All the resources can be put in one easy place to access.”
The National Association of Counties has been a driver behind the Network of Care, with existing programs already operating in counties in Texas, Colorado, California, Maryland and Oregon. Snohomish County is the first of Washington’s counties to use the system.
Regardless of where veterans, service members and their families begin their search for assistance and services, the Network of Care ensures they will find what they need by providing a comprehensive directory of the service providers in Snohomish County and the region, putting people in touch with the right services at the right time. Using a highly interactive web-portal format, the Network of Care also provides easy-to-search libraries and vital information about crisis intervention, employment and education.
The public service is a vehicle to bring together critical information for all aspects of the veterans’ community, which includes family members, active-duty personnel, reservists, members of the national Guard, employers, service providers and the community at large.
To increase accessibility and accommodate all users, the site’s innovative technology provides near-universal access regardless of literacy or income level, to Web-based services through a text-only version of the site and other adaptive technologies as well as providing key information in multiple languages.