At DSHS, our House of Health and Human Services priorities are the driving force behind our agency’s Strategic Plan goals. Each administration contributes to shaping our DSHS Strategic Plan.
The Power of Choice
This page showcases Aging and Long-Term Support Administration's specific goals, along with action plans and success measures. From high-quality in-home care providers to safe and protected facility settings, the power of choice for elders and people with disabilities in Washington state is bright.
Jump to other parts of the DSHS Strategic Plan: BHA | DDA | DVR | ESA | FFA | OOS | IT
ALTSA Strategic Goals
In the strategic planning process, we identify three key components.
- The Strategic Goals: Sets the goal that we are striving to achieve.
- The Action Plan: Our action strategies to get there.
- The Success Measure: The outcome to achieve a goal.
Read in detail below about all of the components of ALTSA's strategic goals. ALTSA's Strategic Plan Metrics, coming soon.
Strategic plan index: Jump to a section of the plan by clicking the Strategic Goal (SG)
- Champion services and supports that increase Access, Choice & Integration.
- Honor Independence, Rights, Health & Safety for vulnerable adults living in home- and community-based settings.
- Optimize Partnerships & Lived Experiences.
- Improve Quality, Accountability and Responsiveness.
- Cultivate Strong Workforce and Implement Technology Supports.
- Empower Staff Belonging, Engagement, Innovation and Wellbeing.
Strategic Goal #1: Champion services and supports that increase Access, Choice & Integration.
The Action Plan:
- Serve individuals in their homes or in community-based settings of their choice while also leveraging advanced digital solutions.
- Partner with the Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Commission, Employment Security Department, Health Care Authority and State Office of the Actuary to ensure a successful WA Cares implementation.
- Utilize technology supports to track program performance and success measures to enhance performance and foster a culture of innovation that reduces risk and improves client outcomes.
- Assist individuals through technology supports, including remote services, enabling and assistive devices, self-service options and increased case management to access the services they need to support their personal goals and expand community engagement.
Success Measure:
1.1: Maintain the percentage of Long-Term Services and Supports clients served in home and community-based settings at or above 91% annually, increasing service utilization by enhancing remote monitoring and digital health tools.
1.2: Ensure readiness to begin delivering Long-Term Services and Supports Trust act “WA Cares” benefits to people of Washington by July 2026.
1.3: Achieve a quarterly percentage of clients transitioned from acute care hospitals in less than 30 days from the date of referral to Home and Community Services consistently at 75% through June 2027.
1.4: Deploy a unified digital tracking platform by Q3 2025 that integrates data across services, enhancing decision-making and policy effectiveness.
1.5: Increase the authorization of assistive devices supporting independent living for eligible clients by 25% by 2025.
1.6: Maintain the quarterly average of nursing facility-to-community settings transitions at 950 by June 2025 and increase to 1,000 by June 2027.
1.7: Achieve a quarterly average of 170 clients discharging or diverting from state or local psychiatric hospitals to a community setting through June 2027.
1.8: Increase the use of telehealth and remote case management tools by 50% by 2027, ensuring services are more accessible to clients, especially in rural and underserved areas.
1.9: Provide case management to at least 500 individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing through June 2025.
Strategic Goal #2: Honor Independence, Rights, Health & Safety for vulnerable adults living in home- and community-based settings.
The Action Plan:
- Support safety and improve regulatory compliance in facilities and agencies providing residential care and supports through the use of technology for timely inspections and investigations of complaints.
- Protect vulnerable adults by responding to reports of abuse, neglect, self-neglect, abandonment, and exploitation: and conduct quality and timely investigations.
- Implement enhanced supports model in Adult Protective Services for individuals experiencing self-neglect using technology for real-time data collection and analysis.
- Improve quality of contract monitoring oversight of community-based providers by integrating technology solutions for real-time data collection and analysis.
Success Measure:
2.1: Demonstrate timeliness of re-inspections in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and adult family homes licensed and certified long-term care providers by employing virtual technologies to achieve 75% of inspections completed timely by June 2025, 85% or more completed timely by June 2026 and 98% or more completed timely by June 2027.
2.2: Demonstrate timeliness of recertifications for Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and Certified Community Residential Services and Supports providers with 75% of recertifications completed timely by June 2025, 85% or more completed timely by June 2026 and 98% or more completed timely by June 2027.
2.3: Maintain the percentage of Nursing Home Statements of Deficiency sent to the facility within the federal regulatory standard at 90% through June 2027.
2.4: Increase timely initial response to investigations based on priority to 100% for high-priority investigations and maintain at 99% for medium- and low-priority investigations through June 2027.
2.5: Reduce number of cases open longer than 90 days without good cause by 10% by June 2025 and 20% by June 2026.
2.6: Deploy intensive support models, inclusive of technology devices, in at least one region by January 2026 and expand statewide by June 2027.
Strategic Goal #3: Optimize Partnerships & Lived Experiences.
The Action Plan:
- Partner with Tribal Governments and recognized American Indian Organizations to provide supports and increase access to resources in ways that honor their traditional values and lived experience.
- Utilize human-centered design principles and incorporate customer input when creating and implementing programs, processes and technology solutions.
- Meaningfully engage community partners and interested parties to better understand the impacts of changes in policies, processes, and practices.
- Prepare for changes that aging and longevity will have on programs and services by leveraging advisory councils, commissions, and collaboratives to improve services to adults with disabilities and older adults.
- Incorporate digital accessibility on website and implement technology that reduces reliance on manual and paper processes.
Success Measure:
3.1: Work with tribes to open at least one tribal Long-Term Services and Supports provider per year, utilizing digital platforms to facilitate communication, training, and resource sharing starting in 2026.
3.2: Increase number of persons with lived experience and new voices participating in Service Experience Team and using virtual engagement tools to broaden participation and input from 8 to 15 by June 2027.
3.3: Develop a comprehensive digital engagement platform by 2025 that facilitates ongoing dialogue and feedback from community partners to influence policy adjustments and enhancements.
3.4: Increase number of persons with direct care experience participating in Direct Care Worker Collaborative from 14 to 25 by June 2027.
3.5: Achieve cross-sector agency participation, utilizing collaborative software and data analytics, to inform planning and implementation, in development and launch of Multi-Sector Aging and Longevity Plan by July 2026.
3.6: Achieve Age Friendly and Dementia Friendly State designations in calendar year 2024.
3.7: Collaborate with the Dementia Action Collaborative to disseminate the updated Washington State Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias and implement recommendations on phased basis per identified timelines by June 2028.
Strategic Goal #4: Improve Quality, Accountability and Responsiveness.
The Action Plan:
- Provide services that reduce disparities in quality and outcomes for clients and residents, improve processes and ensure federal compliance with newly promulgated and revised rules.
- Implement processes and procedures that support successful employee adoption of modern, user-friendly technologies and tools to streamline and improve accuracy of work.
- Support client / resident safety by prioritizing return to standard operational activities impacted by public-health emergency, using technology-enhanced solutions.
- Leverage enterprise risk management as a strategic tool to maintain and further build stakeholder confidence in ALTSA’s ability to deliver on its stated goals and objectives.
- Utilize critical incident system to monitor and trend intake and reporting to identify policy and process improvements.
Success Measure:
4.1: Phase in improvements to critical incident reporting and grievance systems, quality monitoring, and reporting and payment transparency utilizing a digital dashboard that provides real-time monitoring and analysis to enhance quality monitoring and reporting for long-term care programs to comply with Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Access Rule changes by April 2026
4.2: Increase percentage of renewals completed by robotic process automation from 30% to 40% by July 2025 and ensure 90% staff proficiency in these technologies by the end of 2026.
4.3: Increase percentage of providers, clients, and authorized representatives utilizing electronic signatures for CARE Web assessments by 4% annually.
4.4: Increase percentage of clients utilizing voice signatures by 15 percent year-over-year.
4.5: Clear complaint and investigation backlogs created by public health emergency using digital tracking and management tools by June 2027.
4.6: Maintain the long-term care facility complaint investigation backlog of non-immediate jeopardy complaints to 50 or fewer through June 2027.
4.7: Increase the number of Long-Term Care Quality Improvement Program visits annually to Adult Family Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, Nursing Homes, and Certified Community Residential Services and Supports Providers.
4.8: Achieve at least 75% of providers responding to follow up survey reporting policy or implementation changes and / or practices resulting in increased program effectiveness, because of Long-Term Care Quality Improvement Program consultation.
4.9: Achieve a 10% decrease in number of actual citations for the participating provider (related to the protocol area resulting from regulatory visits over the following 4 to 12 months, as compared to the number of failed practice areas (potential citations) identified because of the Long-Term Care Quality Improvement Program consultation.
4.10: Implement a system of enterprise risk management initiatives to find, remediate, and prevent future exposures that may either threaten the achievement of ALTSA’s strategic goals and objectives or cause reputational harm by Q1 2025.
Strategic Goal #5: Cultivate Strong Workforce & Implement Technology Supports.
The Action Plan:
- Build and support a well-trained, culturally diverse direct care workforce and network to meet the needs of clients and address the growing population of older adults.
- Integrate complementary technology solutions into service delivery processes to expand and enhance equitable service availability and options for clients.
- Support staff productivity and efficiency utilizing technology solutions that aid and accelerate access to information.
Success Measure:
5.1: Increase the number of high schools, skills centers and compact schools delivering home care aide certification training to 10 during the 2025-27 biennium through innovative and creative delivery of the high school home care aide program utilizing virtual and hybrid training models to expand reach and accessibility.
5.2: Increase the number of home care aides or nursing assistants who become employed based on outreach and support from the Long-Term Care Workforce Navigators by 10% from 2023-2024 data.
5.3: Complete remote support services pilot program by July 1, 2025.
5.4: Increase Residential setting locator provider utilization by 20% by June 2025 through the development and deployment of an enhanced digital platform that simplifies the process of finding and comparing service options.
5.5: Implement search bots to improve access to statutes, rules and policies in at least two Aging and Long-Term Administration operation manuals by July 2026, enhancing staff ability to retrieve and apply regulatory information quickly and accurately.
Strategic Goal #6: Empower Staff Belonging, Engagement, Innovation and Wellbeing.
The Action Plan:
- Support DSHS’ Employer of Choice program by improving recruitment, onboarding, retention and succession planning through advanced digital tools.
- Implement role-specific and topic-specific training as needed, utilizing Equity, Diversity, Access, and Inclusion principles through scalable digital training platforms.
- Create and maintain a workplace culture and service delivery system that is fair, diverse, and inclusive in all areas of business supported by digital tools that enhance communication and collaboration.
- Engage staff in the design and delivery of programs, offerings and supports to influence programs at the agency level; increase cross-functional input from internal customers using collaborative technology platforms.
- Support staff to elevate ALTSA business needs by engaging with tech services to identify opportunities to improve program systems and services and implement improvements.
Success Measure:
6.1: Increase Aging and Long-Term Support Administration-wide staff retention rate from 87% to 90% by June 2025, using automated onboarding systems and AI-driven talent management solutions.
6.2: Increase positive Aging and Long-Term Support Administration responses to the Department of Social and Health Services survey question, “My agency demonstrates a commitment to pro-equity and anti- racism (through policies, practices, and actions) from 78% to 80% by December 2026.
6.3: Increase the positive Aging and Long-Term Support Administration response to the Department of Social and Health Services survey question, “I feel as if I belong at my agency” from 67% to 75% by December 2026, facilitated by regular virtual town halls and feedback systems.
6.4: Increase positive Aging and Long-Term Support Administration responses to the Department of Social and Health Services survey question, “My agency supports employee wellbeing” from 71% to 76% by June 2025.
6.5: Increase positive Aging and Long-Term Support Administration responses to the Department of Social and Health Services survey question, “I feel supported during organizational change at this agency from 46% to 51% by June 2027.
6.6: Increase positive Aging and Long-Term Support Administration responses to the Department of Social and Health Services survey question, “My agency provides me with the opportunity for learning and development” from 71% to 76% by June 2027.
6.7: Implement at least one technology solution each year, based on staff contributions, through 2027.