This was originally posted on the DCHS Cultivating Connections Blog.
More than 2,200 young people from across King County shared their thoughts and input to create a new Youth Bill of Rights for King County. The Youth Bill of Rights, lays out a framework that will unite youth voices, and inform decisionmakers as they create policies impacting young people. Today, King County Executive Dow Constantine proposed the Youth Bill of Rights, with its recommendations, to the King County Council.
Read the Youth Bill of Rights!
First recommended to the King County in 2015, the Youth Action Plan made clear that the Youth Bill of Rights was a necessary and crucial component of the plan. The effort to create the bill of rights began when young leaders on the King County Children and Youth Advisory Board called for its development in 2019, with the intention to better include youth voices into the County’s policymaking and bring awareness to issues affecting young people in our region. That kicked off a process that generated more than 4,000 comments from young people across King County who named what matters most to them.
King County worked with the Youth Bill of Rights Task Force, a group of young people who championed the Youth Bill of Rights, to capture input from every corner of the county.
“I feel like I have grown up along with this project,” said Julia Kroopkin, a 17-year-old Youth Bill of Rights Task Force member who worked on the project since 2021. “I learned so much through the process. It was spectacular to see so many young people engaging with the project in so many different ways, with different levels of involvement, from elementary schoolers who participated in classrooms and in fairs all the way to the King County Children and Youth Advisory Board members. For young people who are 17 and under, we can’t vote. How better to represent us than with our voices and our own declarations around what we need.”
King County partnered with community members, nonprofit organizations, other agencies, and school districts to reach young people where they were: after-school programs, community events, schools, social media, summer programs, and throughout the community. With the aid of youth-serving partners, County staff talked with young people and collected their comments. Then after collecting and evaluating the initial set of input, County staff went back out to community, to areas not yet reached to ensure young people in every part of the county had a voice. After capturing this input, King County worked with the Youth Bill of Rights Task Force to outline the priorities and identify the recommendations that reflected young people’s input.
The Youth Bill of Rights identifies 10 areas as priorities: Basic Needs & Wellbeing, Health, Education & Learning, Equity & Social Justice, Safety & Security, Community & Belonging, the Environment, Transportation, Youth Voice, and Recreation & Sports.
From these priorities, the team identified three recommendations.
“Nearly ten years after adopting the King County Youth Action Plan, the fulfillment of Recommendation Area 8 on a Youth Bill of Rights marks an important achievement. Youth in the region have affirmed their most pressing wants and needs to King County leaders. Now it is time for County decision-makers to respond. In this regard, the Executive recommends that King County:
- Adopt the King County Youth Bill of Rights as a formal guide when considering policies and budgetary decisions that impact children and youth.
- Set forth plans to create a King County Youth Commission.
- Update the Youth Bill of Rights every five years.”
The King County Council will consider the Youth Bill of Rights over the coming months before voting on adoption.
