Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to the development of a youth action plan that sets King County's priorities for serving infants through young adults.
Body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. Since the 1960s, King County has participated in and funded programs aimed at assisting children and youth. This work includes but is not limited to federal fund distribution, as well as local programming and funding.
2. Today, King County spends over seventy-five million dollars annually on a wide range of programs that influence youth at all stages of development from birth to young adult. Theses services and programs are provided across King County government by several departments and agencies. While most of these programs may be successful individually, it is not clear whether they operate at a scale or collaboratively to make a difference in improving overall outcomes for infants, children, youth and young adults. There is no single point of accountability or unified policy vision for coordinating the county's wide array of children and youth services or programs.
3. King County's various departments and agencies contract with dozens of community-based organizations and local nonprofit organizations that work in collaboration with each other, the county and other governments to serve children, youth and their families. The community-based organizations and local nonprofit organizations include: geographically focused organizations; organizations focused on serving specific cultural and ethnic populations; organizations serving gay, lesbian and transgender youth and young adults; and organizations targeting justice-involved or at-risk youth.
4. King County has adopted policies to directly guide or substantially influence services and programs aimed at children and youth such as the Juvenile Justice Operational Master Plan, the Human Services Framework Policies and the Strategic Plan.
5. In 1992 King County established the children and family commission, to define Kin...
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