Drafter
Clerk 12/03/2015
Title
A MOTION declaring the county's intent to establish a grant program to support mentoring services for youth.
Body
WHEREAS, in January 2014, Ordinance 17738 created a youth action plan task force to develop a proposed youth action plan to provide a policy basis for the development and implementation of King County policies and programs involving youth, and
WHEREAS, in April 2015, the youth action plan task force report included recommendations in nine areas, including social justice and equity and stopping the school to prison pipeline, and
WHEREAS, recommendations related to social justice and equity addressed the need for King County to prioritize and provide resources to recognize, prevent and eliminate institutional racism and other forms of bias across county government, and
WHEREAS, recommendations related to stopping the school to prison pipeline called on the county and its partners to support preventative practices and programs that reduce the likelihood of contact with the juvenile justice system, and
WHEREAS, in June 2015, the council passed Motion 14378, adopting the youth action plan task force recommendations, and
WHEREAS, in July 2015, Ordinance 18088 placed on the ballot the best starts for kids property tax levy to fund prevention and early intervention strategies to improve the health and well-being of children, youth and their communities, and
WHEREAS, in November 2015, King County voters approved the best starts for kids property tax levy, and
WHEREAS, best starts for kids property tax levy proceeds will become available in late 2016 following council approval of an implementation plan that takes into consideration the county's youth action plan and any recommendations of the county's juvenile justice equity steering committee that was formed in 2015 to address disproportionality in the juvenile justice system that are adopted into policy, and
WHEREAS, a 2002 report prepared for the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation found that mentorship programs have been linked to socio-emotional development benefits among youth, including improvements in parental relationships, educational engagement and attendance, as well as decreased likelihood of risky behaviors such as illegal drug and alcohol use and violent behaviors, and
WHEREAS, in the near term, the council wishes to invest in targeted mentorship programs for youth in 2016 before best starts for kids levy proceeds become available;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. It is the intent of the council to appropriate one hundred thousand dollars in 2016 to the department of community and human services to administer a competitive grant program to support mentorship services for youth.
B. The department of community and human services is requsted to issue a request for proposals and is requested to evaluate proposals and award funds based on the following criteria:
1. Potential impact to reduce inequities that result in disparate outcomes in juvenile justice;
2. Potential ability to engage at-risk gang and justice involved populations with efforts geared to prevention, reengaging or reconnecting this population;
3. Potential impact to improve social justice and equity;
4. Potential impact of disrupting the school to prison pipeline;
5. Evidence of ability to provide culturally competent services, if applicable, including quality intepretation services;
6. Ability to use grant funds for service delivery with minimal time and cost needed for implementation;
7. Evidence of past success or strong ablity to achieve performance outcomes related to the above citeria; and
8. Evidence that the program is planning for or has the ability to be sustained beyond the terms of this grant.