New priorities for County’s Children and Youth

King County Councilmember
Rod Dembowski

In January of 2014, the Metropolitan King County Council unanimously passed legislation calling for the development of a Youth Action Plan to set King County’s priorities for serving its young people. The Youth Action Plan (YAP) presented to the Council recently calls for a new set of priorities for how the County serves its infants to 24 year olds.

“Kids should be empowered to achieve their full potential, not be held back by their circumstances,” said Councilmember Rod Dembowski, who sponsored the legislation calling for the creation of a Youth Action Plan. 

“The Youth Action Plan represents the best thinking of children and youth advocates countywide to ensure that all kids in King County can achieve their full potential. The plan provides a blueprint to reform how we invest in kids at King County, and lights the path for potential new investments of resources to achieve the plan's vision for our kids.”  

The Council initiated the development of the YAP, with the goal of ensuring that King County’s Strategic Plan objective to “promote opportunities for all communities and individuals to realize their full potential,” is applied to the County’s children and youth and reflected across all County departments, programs, and initiatives. The goal of the YAP was to set the County’s priorities for an accountable, integrated delivery system of services to achieve the best outcomes for children, families, youth and young adults.

While the task force presenting the YAP found that King County has much to be proud of regarding its support for youth and children, its recommendations point to a need for new priorities and a better way of doing business. The fundamental principles outlined in the YAP are the first indicator that the County must change its current practices – policy development, services, and programming should intentionally incorporate youth and the voices of the people impacted in authentic and meaningful ways.

Additional recommendations include investing early to shift the pendulum from reactive to proactive funding, revisiting current allocations of dedicated funding streams, and utilizing the County’s regional role to act as collaborator and convener. 

The Council’s Committee of the Whole will hold the first hearing on the recommendations of the Youth Action Plan Task Force at its Wednesday, May 20 meeting.