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AN ORDINANCE relating to a veterans' internship program; and amending Ordinance 12014, Section 5, as amended, and K.C.C. 3.12.010.
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BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNTY COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. The Iraq/Afghanistan conflict has been the longest military engagement in our country's history. Veterans from this era are struggling to reintegrate into civilian life and facing higher than average unemployment rates. The return home requires today's veteran to navigate cultural differences between military and civilian life, to translate military skills to gain employment, and to establish self-sufficiency.
B. In 2011, the United States Department of Labor reported that among veterans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four, unemployment averaged thirty percent. While that rate improved to twenty percent in January 2012, that rate is still well above the corresponding rate for the country's general rate of eight and three-tenths percent.
C. Veterans are in need of employment opportunities that help mitigate the significant challenges they face when returning from war and re-entering the job market. A veterans' internship program in King County would afford veterans with on-the-job training and work experience enhancing their ability to more effectively compete in the job market.
D. The existing code provision limits interns to full-time students seeking practical skills to augment their educational program. Broadening the definition of "administrative intern" to include those who are seeking to learn job skills with or without an accompanying education program, would allow the county to employ returning veterans as interns. Expanding the definition would also allow the county to provide on-the-job training experiences as part of a more general succession planning effort, needed as the county's workforce nears retirement in hard-to-fill positions.
SECTION 2. Ordinance 12014, Section 5, as amended, and K.C.C. 3.12.010 are e...

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