Children in our community are finding their way in new environments—preschools, schools, after-school programs and more. Families are doing what they can to have the best start they can for the new school year. At the same time, leaders throughout our community are ensuring the voter-approved Best Starts for Kids initiative gets off to a great start. Here are a few of the fall highlights:
County Council reviewing the BSK Implementation Plan: Committees within the County Council have been reviewing the Best Starts for Kids Implementation plan and the full County Council is planned to review the Best Starts for Kids Implementation Plan on Monday, September 19th. You can look for meeting details on the King County Council agenda page.
Pending approval by County Council, we anticipate the majority of funding opportunities becoming available beginning in 2017. We will continue ongoing planning to ensure the dollars go out the door in a way that reflects community needs and priorities.
Preventing youth and family homelessness Request for Proposal in community: Earlier this spring, County Council approved one initial Best Starts for Kids program to prevent youth and family homelessness. This prevention initiative will utilize individualized case management and flexible funding to help prevent homelessness among youth and young adults and families with children. The deadline for community organizations to apply for this Request for Proposal is September 20th at 2:00 pm.
Child and Youth Survey released: What are the needs and strengths of King County families? Starting this month, we launched a first-ever survey to learn about the health, well-being, strengths, and needs of young children and their families in King County. This new, ground-breaking survey will fill a critical gap in understanding the circumstances and health needs of our local families with infants through elementary school. Over the past few weeks, the survey has been sent to about 12,000 randomly chosen parents and guardians across all communities in King County. The information will serve as the baseline for measuring outcomes of BSK and will inform program development. Already, over 700 families have completed the survey.
For up-to-date information about Best Starts for Kids, subscribe to our Best Starts for Kids blog here.