New DDA Communications Cloud! DDA is excited to announce the implementation of GovDelivery Communications Cloud, a communications system offered through a company called Granicus. The system is made up of email, text, and other communications methods. By using a tool like GovDelivery, we can meet State and Federal expectations of communicating with our stakeholders about policy/rule development, emergency response, office closures, etc. Our goals:

• Improve communication with clients, families, stakeholders, and contractors o We can send notifications to staff and others during emergencies, e.g. wild fires

in Eastern Washington. o We can send messages to targeted audiences by topic or provider, i.e. residential

providers in Yakima, or any type of providers working with children. • Increase awareness of DDA topics, changes and updates

o We can send Care Provider Bulletins, Dear Providers letters, and much more. o We can send automatic emails when there are content changes to our website

or other areas that are audience needs to know about. • Access tools and templates for email messages including email newsletters

o GovDelivery has expert designers who can help us maintain the DSHS/DDA branding (colors, logos, etc.).

o Subscribers can choose what they want to see, how often, and in what format, i.e. text, email.

In addition to improving communications, increasing awareness, and accessing useful

technologies, GovDelivery will also be able to provide us with:

• A central repository with up-to-date contact information for anyone who chooses to

sign up for alerts.

• Reports that can show us how to better engage with the audience:

o How many subscribers we have

o The frequency that people open attachments, links, etc. from the email

messages

o Which topics and categories are looked at most often

DDA information can be promoted through other agencies who use GovDelivery