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On September 16, Seattle voters will have the opportunity, and hopefully the sense, to show the city that their priorities really do remain intact despite their odd voting behavior over the last few months. Will they save face by renewing Proposition One, the Families and Education Levy renewal package which is unfortunately unfamiliar to most outside Seattle's social service and education circles?
Originally passed in 1990, the Families and Education Levy is the brain child of Norm Rice and over 2,000 Seattle residents who met at a city-wide Education Summit that same year. It is lauded by those who work closely with levy programs.
This year's bid for renewal does not ask for any new taxes, but as before would collect $69 million over the next seven years, or what amounts to $40 dollars per year for the average home owner (valued at about $150,000). For $69 million, many may be asking what Seattle will get. The answer is an impressively broad range of programs aimed at keeping kids safe, healthy and ready to learn. Levy funding is divided into five components which are broken down below by yearly dollar amount, purpose and impact on Seattle's youth and families.
Early Childhood Development - $1,456,761
Funding for eight family centers, and child care for 650 children per year combine to make up this component of the levy. Family centers, located throughout Seattle, have been providing parenting support groups and classes, community activities for youth and families, employment referrals, advocacy for school, court and medical issues, gang prevention and intervention, and English-as-a-second-language classes with levy subsidies.
At Central Youth and Family Services (CYFS), the F&E Levy makes up 23 percent of the agency's total budget and funds the "Achieve" drop-out prevention program and the Teen Health Center at Franklin High School. The youth and families served are typically in crisis, and the majority are low income and people of color, according to Executive Director Bettylou Valentine. Valentine cited a 1996 follow-up evaluation to convey the importance levy programs have had on CYFS: levy programs have been part of an overall agency success rate of 87 percent in helping youth and families overcome problems in areas including suicidal behavior, criminal involvement, drug and alcohol use and abuse, runaway behavior, school problems and family conflict.
Child Care Resources is another levy-funded organization which is, according to Associate Director Deeann Puffert, the only agency in King County that does public child care resource and referral free of charge. Puffert says that the Families and Education Levy has allowed her organization to expand its hours and accessibility to low income families who find it virtually impossible to find home-based, flexible child care in the phone book.
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The F&E Levy subsidizes child care for children whose parents would not otherwise be able to work or go to school, as well as providing a variety of services to make sure children can successfully transition to kindergarten. At Community Day Center (CDC) between seven and 15 levy-subsidized children receive day care at any given time. In addition, many employees of the center are recipients of levy-funded job and work transition training. Without the levy's renewal, Seattle's eight family centers and numerous parents who rely on levy-subsidized child care would undoubtedly suffer and some programs would be cut completely.
Lynn Werta, Director of levy-funded Small Faces Day Care, fears that the current two-year waiting list for levy-subsidized child care would be pushed back even further. CDC Administrator Lois Major worries not only about how the families of current levy-subsidized children would afford day care without the levy, but also about her employees. Those who are currently receiving job training and hoping to transition into the work force and toward independence depend on the availability of levy subsidies.
School-based Student and Family Support - $2,230,683
This component of the levy funds team approaches to solving family and student problems which interfere with learning. Over the last seven years, the levy has fully funded family support workers in elementary and middle schools throughout Seattle to provide students and their families with food, clothing, transportation, referrals for counseling, medical care and other emergency assistance. Since the inception of the Family Support Worker Program, Seattle teachers have reported spending less time dealing with behavioral and social problems in the classroom. The levy has also funded counseling services for homeless students and volunteer coordinators in 25 schools to recruit and train volunteers and encourage parent and community involvement in schools.
First Place, an organization providing basic services and crisis counseling to homeless students, receives ten percent of its budget from the F&E Levy. Development Director Debra Holland asserts that the levy "funds First Place's key educational and social service programs. Through these programs we have been able to educate K-6 graders who are generally missed in a public school"
*According to Holland, 74 percent of these students are people of color, 100 percent are below the U.S. poverty line, 85 percent have experienced domestic violence, and almost all are at risk for physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
Comprehensive Student Health Services - $2,370,000
If the Families and Education Levy passes this September, it will fund ten health centers, expanded from eight, so that all of Seattle's large high schools will have a center on-site. In addition five new centers will provide counseling, peer support groups and health education classes to middle school students. The 1997 levy package puts new emphasis on middle school support centers. Paul Elliott, Campaign Manager for Families YES!, explained that the change was made to counter increasingly early involvement by youth in risky lifestyle practices. Contrary to conservative belief, mental health assistance makes up the largest single segment (42 percent) of Teen Health Center care. One student said, "It is unclear to me why they are not in every school. It gives peopleÉ support that they would not feel comfortable getting anywhere else." In fact, during the 1995-96 school year, almost 8,000 students made over 16,000 visits to the eight existing centers. Elliott claims that if the levy is not renewed this September, "The eight existing Teen Health Centers will close, and many students would be missing this accessible and comfortable health care outlet during their difficult adolescent years."
Out-of-School Activities - $2,415,497
Out-of-school and summer activities are projected to serve 3,200 school-age children through the Families and Education Levy this year alone. Each year students at 15 Seattle schools have access to 428 different out-of-school activities, ranging from drama and break dancing to book clubs. Jamie Flaxman is the Executive Director of Seattle Youth Involvement Network (SYIN) which provides out-of-school programs to many low income Seattle children. Flaxman says SYIN uses levy funds to "promote volunteerism among youth, ensure youth are involved in policy discussions, improve the relationship between youth and police, and for youth leadership programming."
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"We are all affected by the actions of others, whether they are gang-involved, school dropouts or unemployable due to lack of skills or language barriers." Youth and Family Services |
By finding jobs and activities for students during out-of-school time, some levy-funded groups have been able to cultivate job and communication skills, as well a sense of self-empowerment in many students. A survey conducted at six schools, participating in 30 activities found that 40 percent of students report they like coming to school more and 57 percent know their teachers better than before. A survey of parents from three schools providing out-of-school activities found that 62 percent saw an increase in their children's self-esteem and confidence.
Participants in programs like Seattle Team for Youth, a fully levy-funded gang prevention and intervention program, would completely lose this access route to out-of-school activities and leadership opportunities without the F&E Levy.
In addition to the above components, $500,000 also goes to academic improvement programs which target problem schools and organize school-wide improvement plans. Additional costs are incurred by administration of the levy which can total no more than five percent, and also by outside program evaluations. According to Elliott, in the 1997 proposal some unsuccessful programs have been dropped according to the results of these evaluations.
Clearly, in combination, the types of programs covered by the levy go a long way toward meeting its goal of keeping kids safe, healthy and ready to learn. With the current climate of federal cutbacks, Seattle cannot expect funding for these programs to flow from other sources, nor can it afford to lose services which have proven to be an efficient and successful way to keep even the most at-risk kids engaged. "We are all affected by the actions of others, whether they are gang-involved, school drop outs or unemployable due to lack of skills or language barriers," said Gina Custer, a counseling supervisor at Southeast Youth and Family Services. This is precisely why a proactive approach is critical come September 16. You can contact Families YES! at (206) 748-9999 or on-line at familiesy@aol.com.
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