Drafter
Clerk 04/15/2015
Title
A MOTION adopting a youth action plan for King County.
Body
WHEREAS, since the 1960s, King County has participated in and funded programs aimed at assisting children and youth, including, but not limited to, distribution of federal funding, as well as local programming and funding, and
WHEREAS, in 2013, the county spent more than $162 million in funding from all sources on a wide range of services and programs that influence youth at all stages of development, from birth to young adult, and
WHEREAS, the services and programs for youth and children are provided across King County government by nine departments and agencies that contract with dozens of community-based organizations and local nonprofit organizations who, in turn, work in collaboration with each other, the county and other governments to serve children, youth and their families, and
WHEREAS, in January 2014, the King County council and executive enacted Ordinance 17738, which called for the development of a Youth Action Plan to set King County's priorities for serving its young people, from infants through young adults, and
WHEREAS, a twenty-five-member Youth Action Plan task force, comprised of representatives of a broad range of organizations and entities with substantial expertise and knowledge relevant to children and youth, in addition to diversity in views and experiences, was appointed to develop the Youth Action Plan, and
WHEREAS, Ordinance 17738 charged the Youth Action Plan task force members with responding to the following topics:
1. Identification of the mission and vision of the Youth Action Plan, and whether the executive's stated vision that "infants reach adulthood healthy and safe, academically and vocationally succeeding, and socially and civically engaged" reflects the recommendations of the task force;
2. A bill of rights for King County's youth, akin to the youth bills of rights adopted by jurisdictions in California and elsewhere around the country;
3. Whether King County should establish a single point of accountability for children and youth services, programs and policies, along with recommendations on what form, model or structure that point of accountability should take, and on its role and duties;
4. Identification of what age range the Youth Action Plan will address, and whether families are included in the plan;
5. Identification of improvements, efficiencies, gaps and opportunities to take promising practices to scale, along with areas for better integration or coordination of services, programs and policies for children and youth within and outside of King County government;
6. Recommendations on King County's role and involvement with early childhood learning programs and initiatives;
7. Identification of the barriers within and outside of King County government that prevent children, youth and families from realizing their full potential, and recommendations on how to eliminate those barriers;
8. Recommendations on the update to the King County Strategic Plan, and on social justice and equity goals, as related to youth;
9. Identification of the children, youth and family programs, methodologies and service models that the county should prioritize to achieve outcomes and meet policy goals;
10. Recommendations on King County's funding of services and programs for youth, including the prioritization of existing and potential new resources to achieve recommended outcomes; and
11. Identification of an evaluation and reporting structure, process and implementation timeline for the Youth Action Plan, and
WHEREAS, throughout the process, the Youth Action Plan task force was supported by a team that included King County government staff, and
WHEREAS, to guide its work throughout the process of developing the Youth Action Plan, the Youth Action Plan task force identified the following three principles:
1. The well-being of children and families and youth and young adults should not be predicted by their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, geography, income or immigration status;
2. Youth policy development, services, and programming should intentionally include diverse youth/youth voices in authentic and meaningful ways; and
3. Policy development, services and programming should intentionally incorporate voices of the people impacted by the policies and services in authentic and meaningful ways, and
WHEREAS, to assist the Youth Action Plan task force in its work, King County staff gathered data from all King County agencies and departments that might serve children, youth and their families to compile a detailed inventory of the programs and services provided by the county in 2013 for children, youth and their families, and
WHEREAS, the Youth Action Plan task force reviewed that data to gain a big-picture understanding of King County's investments in children, youth and their families, and
WHEREAS, the ordinance called for the Youth Action Plan to be developed transparently, collaboratively and strategically, in partnership with children and youth serving community providers, consumers, philanthropy, separately elected officials including the council, other jurisdictions and school districts, and
WHEREAS, the Youth Action Plan task force fulfilled that goal of working transparently, collaboratively and strategically by planning and executing a community and youth outreach strategy that included holding five community conversations, attended by more than two hundred twenty-five community members, in locations across the county to hear from community members about the issues and barriers facing the county's youth and to identify opportunities and solutions, and
WHEREAS, because the county is a widely diverse county and all citizen voices needed to be welcomed and heard, interpretation services were made available at each of the community conversations, with the goal of providing all community members who attended the ability to participate in the process, and
WHEREAS, although youth attended and participated in the community conversations, the Youth Action Plan task force also conducted a youth survey to understand the most pressing issues facing twelve-to-twenty-four-year-olds in the county and to identify strategies for the county to increase meaningful youth engagement, and
WHEREAS, youth participated in the development and dissemination of the survey, which was completed and returned by more than one thousand youth, and
WHEREAS, the Youth Action Plan submitted as an attachment to this motion reflects that outreach to community members, youth, county departments, non-government entities and organizations and other jurisdictions, as well as the knowledge and expertise of the Youth Action Plan task force members, and
WHEREAS, the Youth Action Plan task force revised an earlier vision statement relating to the county's work serving children and youth by incorporating equity into the statement and emphasizing current as well as future success for children and youth, and
WHEREAS, the vision plan of the Youth Action Plan is that "King County is a place where everyone has equitable opportunities to progress through childhood safe and healthy, building academic and life skills to be thriving members of their community," and
WHEREAS, in addition to the work outlined in Ordinance 17738, representatives of the Youth Action Plan task force also served on the leadership circle convened by the Executive to assist in the development of the 2015 Best Starts for Kids initiative, a prevention-oriented regional plan that will be aimed at supporting the healthy development of children and youth, families and communities across the county, and
WHEREAS, the Youth Action Plan contains recommendations relating to the following nine areas:
1. Social Justice and Equity;
2. Strengthen and Stabilize Families, and Children, Youth and Young Adults;
3. Stop the School to Prison Pipeline;
4. Bust Siloes/We're Better Together;
5. Get Smart About Data;
6. Invest Early, Invest Often, Invest in Outcomes;
7. Accountability;
8. Youth Bill of Rights; and
9. Evaluation and Reporting/Process and Implementation Timeline;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
The Youth Action Plan for King County, Attachment A to this motion, is hereby adopted.