Constantine Pitches $811M 'Best Starts for Kids' Levy Renewal

Renton WA

28 January, 2021

9:39 PM

Description

KING COUNTY, WA — King County Executive Dow Constantine on Thursday unveiled a proposal to extend the "Best Starts for Kids" levy, which would raise an estimated $811 million to fund various child care initiatives for another six years. The levy, first approved by voters in 2015, currently serves more than half a million children, young adults and families across the region, Constantine said. If the executive's proposed extension is approved by the Metropolitan King County Council, voters will get the final say in August. "Every day, our groundbreaking Best Starts for Kids initiative ensures King County's children have equitable opportunities to thrive and achieve their potential," Constantine said in a statement Thursday. "Quality child care is essential to preparing our kids for success in school and supporting working families. As our region recovers from the health and economic crises brought on by the global pandemic, it is more important than ever to make sure every child and family is supported to share in that recovery." In a news release, Constantine said the new measure would maintain or expand current efforts, including: • Home-based services for new parents, which provides support for new families throughout the first years. In these programs, an average of 97 percent of new parents started breastfeeding, helping their babies off to a healthy start. This exceeded the goal of "Healthy People 2020," a federal initiative with a goal of 82 percent of new parents breastfeeding.• Programs that promote healthy development for youth, including support for children and young people to develop leadership skills, connect with their community, and succeed in school. The levy served 40,000 children and young people with programs before, during, and after school, and throughout the summer.• Youth and Family Homelessness Prevention Initiative, offering flexible funds and intensive case management helped 9,200 young people and families. Ninety percent of enrollees did not enter the homeless system, and 92 percent remained housed at least one year after exiting the program. The proposed renewal includes new funding for about 3,000 pre-kindergarten children who have no access to child care and would expand several other programs, including those providing medical and mental health services to middle school and high school students and initiatives that help young adults transition from school into the workforce. Constantine said existing programs have served hundreds of thousands of infants, children and families since 2015, and helped improve school readiness for pre-K children by 57 percent. The new levy would total 19 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in property taxes — an increase of five cents. The annual bill for a median-priced home would be about $114, the county estimates. The existing levy will expire Dec. 31, 2021, unless approved by voters in August. Learn more about the Best Starts for Kids initiative on the King County website.