King County Executive Ron Sims today issued a new report that says King County families are doing okay, but that there are many things local governments, individuals and local businesses can do to enhance their quality of life in this region.
Sims released the Communities Count 2000 report, the result of five years of leadership and funding by his Children and Family Commission, which contains indicators on how children, families and communities are faring in King County. The findings will serve as input to future budget decisions and actions.
In presenting the report, Sims was joined by Boh Dickey, Safeco president and United Way chair, Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin, Lee Hatcher of Sustainable Seattle and Children and Family Commission member Betty Hyde. Together, they urged individuals, civic groups, churches, businesses and charitable organizations to join King County government to help in determining the best way to meet the needs of our community, allocate resources and establish the most effective policies and actions to address the concerns raised in this report.
"This is the first time we have asked residents to describe their vision of an ideal community," Sims said. "All too often, we measure our work in miles of roads, tons of recycling and solid waste collected, clean lakes and streams and number of participants in our parks programs. But this is the first time we've focused on social health. The results are compelling, and they will guide us in policy decisions in the future."
"The report is an invaluable tool in serving the community," said Dickey. "As a partner with state and local government, United Way of King County will use this report to assess health and human services needs and direct resources to them. The indicators report will help everyone better understand health and human services needs in our community."
"Through an extensive process begun in 1997, residents told us what they value in their families and their community; what sustains healthy people and strong neighborhoods, and what social problems concern them," Sims said. More than 1,500 King County residents participated through a random telephone survey, a series of focus groups and seven public forums. People from all parts of the County and from different backgrounds were included.
Indicators were selected that reflected the issues residents considered the most important to the overall health and well being of King County.
Public Health - Seattle & King County provided technical leadership in developing the indicators, gathered the data and produced the Communities Count 2000 report.
King County as a whole is making progress and there are not great differences by geographic regions of the County. Yet significant disparities exist by age, income and education levels, race, and gender.
Here are some key findings:
- In spite of being in the midst of tremendous economic growth, with income increasing faster in King County than the rest of the nation, one of five residents is not earning a livable wage and one in 10 has no health insurance.
- The majority of people feel safe in their neighborhoods and crime is decreasing, but the level of family violence is still a major concern and too many residents say they feel the effects of discrimination.
- The young children are showing improvement in school, but still 30 percent of children ages two through five are not read to regularly.
- Nearly one in five high school students doesn't complete their senior year.
Seattle Mayor Paul Schell added, "Our metropolitan area has enjoyed remarkable economic expansion and growth. However, we still face significant challenges. We must work across our communities so that all families and individuals can meet their basic human needs, share in our economic prosperity, and participate in building strong communities. The Communities Count report will help us measure our success in achieving this vision."
"This report is a starting point that we will use to turn King County into the community we all want it to be," said Sims. He has presented these findings to the Growth Management Planning Council, which he chairs. He has asked that these community indicators be added to the list of other issues they monitor, such as growth, income, etc., when proposing regional growth policies.
A summary version of the report, made possible by Safeco, will be reprinted and distributed in tomorrow's Seattle Times. A complete version will be available at all
King County libraries (external link); by calling the Children's and Family Commission office, at (206) 296-3430; and at http://www.metrokc.gov; or http://www.communitiescount.org.
For details of the complete report, contact Sandra Ciske at (206) 296-2791 or Kathryn Horsley, at (206) 296-2789.
