AN ORDINANCE relating to civil rights; authorizing the Director of the Office for Civil Rights or her designee to execute an agreement with the Social Justice Fund, a Washington non-profit, to provide services relating to zero youth detention projects; amending Ordinance 124927 by lifting a budget proviso; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.
The report is the report. The Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts Committee Agenda Item six Council 118 636 Relating to Civil Rights authorizing the Director of the Office for Civil Rights or her designee to execute an agreement with the Social Justice Fund in Washington nonprofit to provide services related to zero youth detention projects amending ordinance 124 927 by lifting a budget proviso and ratifying confirming certain prior acts, the committee recommends the bill. Pass. And one can argue the most important piece of legislation of the day. Councilmember Herbold. Thank you. This legislation is related to funds for work related to the Youth Detention Alternative Services, also known as zero detention projects that the council included in the 2016 adopted budget. The legislation approves a contract with the Social Justice Fund and the Council hereby lifts the proviso on the funding as required by last year's Council Green Sheet . Just to make a clarification, this budget action does not actually fund the programs. It simply funds the social justice project to to move forward with their identification of programs that will then receive this funding. The way they do this work is the social justice fund has a giving project where they bring together a multiracial group of 15 to 25 people who work together over the next six months to build community with one another, develop a shared analysis of race and class, and then make strategic grants based upon a competitive funding process which will follow the council's vote today. Just a personal note for much of my adult life, whether or not working on issues of homelessness or police accountability or drug reform, I've been working on issues to address the collateral consequences impacting people with criminal histories. I'm also the grandmother of two remarkable children who are biracial, and I'm frightened by the prospect that they could make a mistake that could land them in the school to prison pipeline. For many people, my fear is their reality. African-Americans in King County make up 50.7% of the incarcerated youth, despite being less than 12% of the population. Approximately 26.5% of youth bookings in King County come from the Seattle Police Department. Washington ranks first in the United States for jailing youth for status offenses such as truancy and running away. After attending the 2016 Black Prisoners Caucus Legislative Summit last month at Cleveland Bay Prison. I challenge myself to ensure that the city does more to support criminal justice reform efforts. This funding will allow the communities most impacted by our failed tough on crime laws to actually be participants in transformative policy reform that will help lay the foundation for the city to achieve zero detention for juveniles. This is the first step. The second step, I believe, also starts with working with the communities that have been doing this work for so long that have gotten us this far to really dig in and do a critical evaluation of the new Children and Family Justice Center. As part of that evaluation. We must identify and implement best practices to reduce the build capacity for detention use in the facility. The version on your iPads is a clean version. The version you have here on your dias on the dias is a substitute version. It the the substitute version really. Lifts. Up the work of the community members that have been working with the Office of Civil Rights and the Social Justice Fund and names them and their work thus far and moving forward. I moved to amend Council Bill 11 8636 Attachment A by substituting version two for version 1/2. Okay we're going to vote on the amendment first was been moved and second it to substitute version two for version one. Any further comments on the amendment. All those in favor of the substitution vote. I. I. Those opposed vote no. The ayes have it. Now, we would like additional comments on the base legislation as amended. Councilmember O'Brien. Thank you, Councilmember Herbold, for your leadership on this and your comments. I want to just reiterate some of the things you said. You know, we have heard loud and clear from a broad and diverse group of community members over the past year expressing their clear desire for us to be a city that no longer incarcerates any of our youth. And based on that community leadership, this council passed unanimously a resolution last year stating our vision to become that city, recognizing that there is a chasm between where we are today and where we want to be with the vision, this step and this work through the social justice fund to do this community based funding models for alternative programs is frankly, something unprecedented at this city. It's something that I don't think we would have be trying if it weren't for community members that came forward and was very, very explicit on how they see that a successful transition to zero youth detention had to go forward. And so I want to thank all the folks collectively who've been working on this for so long. Thank my colleagues for working, engaging on this. I know that this is just one of the many steps, but I'm really excited to be taking this step today and look forward to supporting it. I think it comes from Brian. Further comments from Councilmember Burgess. Thank you. Councilmember O'Brien, I really appreciate your comment that this is one step. I think as we as we really come to understand the children of Seattle and our efforts to, for example, several years ago expand the Nurse Family Partnership or to launch the Seattle Preschool Program. In addition to steps like this one today, we really have to look at the beginning of life for our kids. And there are many kids growing up in census tracts in our city with which have childhood poverty at a rate of 40% or higher. Which, you know, the federal government classifies that as heavily concentrated poverty. And for kids to grow up in that kind of an environment, they're really starting out with one arm tied behind their back, and it's going to be very difficult for them to be successful in life. And yet we have the evidence, we have the track record, we have the best practices that if we chose to follow them, we could cure that problem. It's not going to happen overnight, but we could certainly address that. You know, what's really troubling to me is in those federal census tracts that have poverty of 40% or more of children living in those census tracts, we also have the most Seattle public schools that are rated as the lowest performing schools in our city. So there's a direct correlation between where childhood poverty is, is found and where the school district's poorest performing schools are. But yet, just a few blocks away, there are some of our best performing public schools. And I think the challenge for us is why can't we take the success that has been shown that we can achieve and spread it to all of the public schools in our city? So I'm very supportive of this measure today, but I want us to, as we all I know, are committed to doing, continue to address this issue of whether or not our kids have a strong and fair start in life. I'd like to make a comment that what's I think most exciting about this legislation and moving forward is that we're making sort of making a resounding sound that these children are worthy of this kind of investment. When I spent a lot of time in whether it's the youth center or the the the halls of the schools or different camps talking to children, I impress upon them that they are worthy of many things love, education, investments, that they are truly worthy. And so often many of them are led to believe that they're not worthy. And so I want to thank the all of the community organizations and the advocates for fighting so fiercely, not just for this particular project, but fighting for these children. It's you don't get rich doing this kind of work, at least monetarily, but you get rich in so many other ways. And so I think that they very appropriately pushed the council to think outside the box and the executive, and we are better for this kind of investment. And I look forward to supporting and I want to thank my colleagues as well. Councilmember Gonzalez. Thank you. I am really excited about moving forward with this particular piece of work as a key component to combating institutional racism that we know exists within our school systems, within our health systems, within our education systems. And this work, this body of work by Seattle City Council is is, I think, an affirmation of the fact that we understand that that institutional racism exists and that it's up to us to figure out how to empower community to fight against institutional racism. And that's what excites me about this particular vote, is that we are undergoing an effort to create a partnership between the Social Justice Fund and Epic two, in collaboration with the Office for Civil Rights to really listen to community, to hand over the ability to community, to tell us what it is the community truly needs to to to get to zero youth detention. And yes, that does begin with making sure that we are investing in our kids from the very, very start. But that doesn't negate the need to address the existing status quo. And so I'm really excited about this body of work moving forward. On a personal note, I grew up in the Lower Yakima Valley, which is predominantly Latino. And I have to tell you that most of most of the people that I know in the Valley I have known for 39 years all my life, met them the first day I entered into my free pre-K program. And unfortunately, some of them didn't do well even with the investment of of education. But the ones that did have that investment of education obviously did a lot better. And I'll just say that a majority of my friends who I went to school with unfortunately found themselves in the juvenile system, and then ultimately that led to prison . And it has destroyed the community. It's destroyed families. And so this is this is real work that has real impact. That's incredibly important. I just want to commend the folks who are involved in the movement for pushing elected officials to do the right thing and look forward to continuing to watch your work and be supportive of your work. Thank you for those words. Please call the role on the passage of the amended bill. Gonzalez I Herbold. Johnson for us. O'Brian. Hi, Sergeant. Hi, Bagshaw. Hi, Burgess. I'm President Herrell. Hi. Nine in favor and unopposed. The bill passed and the chair will sign it. Okay. If there. Is there any other for any other further business to come before the Council? Councilmember Burgess. Yes. I would like to be excused on March 28 to please. Second to move in seconded Councilmember Burgess. Be excused from. On March 28th. All those in favor say I. I oppose. Vote no. Any further business to come before the council? If not, we. We are adjourned. Thank you very much.