Youth Bill of Rights moves into ratification phase: Did we get it right?

This post has been updated with dates and times for upcoming Youth Community Cafés!

After gathering input from more than 2,000 young people and children submitting 4,000 comments in the first phase of the Youth Bill of Rights project, we’re ready to move into the second phase: ratification, in which we will engage community voices to review and ratify the top issues to include in the Youth Bill of Rights.  

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We are so grateful to have engaged so many young people across King County in the initial phase of the Youth Bill of Rights project, which was one of nine recommendations by the King County Council in the 2015 Youth Action Plan. The Youth Bill of Rights will identify the wants and needs of young people across King County to help guide leaders as they make decisions that affect the health, happiness, and hopes of young people in our region. The idea for this project was proposed by youth leaders in 2015. 

Now we will continue to do in-depth community work to ensure we’re gathering input from perspectives we haven’t yet reached. So far we have reviewed the perspectives we have already gathered, reached out to schools, community leaders, and partners in communities that were not fully represented in our outreach, and we’re planning a series of Youth Community Cafés where young people can join, offer their input, and learn about the Youth Bill of Rights.  

Gathering these perspectives will help us determines young people’s priorities as we develop the Youth Bill of Rights final policy recommendations and report expected to be completed this year.  

Upcoming Youth Community Cafés 

Young people in regions where we received little or no feedback during the Input Phase, are encouraged to participate in Youth Community Cafés and open houses. There will be opportunities to confirm the top issues, highlight anything we missed, and help prioritize themes. Some dates are still to be confirmed. Stay tuned to this blog post where we will add updated dates and times! 

Our first stop was in Duvall on April 30 Youth Community Café in Duvall and met with young people who shared their perspective and experience as input for the King County Youth Bill of Rights. At the workshop a young person shared that this was the first time they had heard about this project, but that they wanted their perspective included. 

• Outreach
• Youth Bill of Rights