Third workshop for US – The Untold Story Project is May 1 in Chinook Building

“The thing you’re most afraid to share is the thing you most want to say.” This is one of the observations journalist Florangela Davila made during the workshop she provided last week as part of the Untold Story Project. Davila also said that stories are built on verbs and movement, and that the most powerful parts of a sentence – and a story – are the beginning and the end. The Untold Story Project, in support of the county’s commitment to lead with racial justice, invites employees of color to submit a… Read More

ESJ Speaker Series: Impacts of Japanese American Internment during WWII

On Tuesday, May 8, attend the next ESJ Speaker Series for a discussion on the “Impacts of Japanese American Internment during WWII” led by Tom Ikeda, Executive Director of Densho, the Chinook Room 123 from noon – 1 p.m. Densho means “to leave a legacy”. At Densho, our mission is to educate, preserve, collaborate and inspire action for equity. Densho uses technology to preserve and make accessible primary source materials of World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans; to present materials for historic value and as a means of exploring issues of… Read More

King County Hiring Managers: You are the key to the success of Vets 4 HIRE

Each of the past three years, King County has met its goal of hiring 16 veteran fellows as part of the Vets 4 HIRE program. Funding is available to hire 16 more this year, but we need the help of hiring managers. What began as King County’s Heroes Employment Reintegration Opportunity (HERO) Program five years ago has developed into the Vets 4 HIRE (Heroes in Reintegration Experiences) Program, a paid fellowship/internship for qualified veterans funded in part by the Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy. While the success of any program of… Read More

Creating pipelines to future careers

Crossposted from WTD’s Clean Water Stories Half of King County Wastewater Treatment Division’s valued employees are expected to retire in five years and one of the biggest questions we face is: How will those spots be filled? How can we reach out to the next generation? We want high school students to be aware of these career opportunities. We host two high school career events in the spring every year and hire 10 high school interns for a summer, and they do some amazing work for us, even if they choose a different… Read More

Second workshop for US – The Untold Story Project is April 17 in Renton

The Untold Story project, in support of the county’s commitment to lead with racial justice, invites employees of color to submit a 750-word story of how racism has affected them and their sense of self, belonging, or worth. Examples can be found on the project website. Stories are due May 25. Submitters are cautioned that this project is not a forum for discrimination or sexual harassment complaints, which must be legally addressed by Human Resources. The second in a series of three lunchtime workshops to assist potential submitters in writing their story… Read More

Executive Constantine proclaims Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in King County

King County Executive Dow Constantine today proclaimed April 4, 2018, to be Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in King County: View the PDF document here.

ESJ Legislative Branch Committee guest speaker to discuss Dr. King, April 6

The Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) Legislative Branch Committee and Councilmember Larry Gossett invite all employees to attend the first event in an ESJ lunch and learn guest speaker series, entitled “The Forgotten King” with author and activist Bill Fletcher, Jr. The event will be held Friday, April 6, 2018 at 11:30 a.m. in the Superior Courtroom, E-942. The King County Council passed King County’s Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan 2016-2022 and the goal of the ESJ Legislative Branch Committee is to help advance the vision of the Strategic Plan.

KCIT ESJ speaker series to feature seminar instructor, March 30

The KCIT Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) Committee is excited to bring in Dr. Heather Hackman to the ESJ Speaker’s Forum. Heather has been leading a series of three day seminars for managers and staff on “Building a Racially Just King County” that have been very well received by employees. The event will take place on Friday, March 30, at noon in the City of Seattle Bertha Knight Landes conference room located on Fifth Avenue and James Street.

Juvenile Justice: The stats

Children and Family Justice Center $210 million: Levy amount King County voters approved in 2012 to build a Children and Family Justice Center to replace the outdated Youth Services Center $45 million: Estimated detention portion of the $210 million CFJC $40 million: Estimated cost of repairs to existing YSC 112: Number of juvenile detention beds at new CFJC, a reduction of 100 from the YSC’s 212 beds Juvenile Detention 136: Reduction in number of youth in detention from 187 in 1998 to 51 in 2016 49%: African American composition of youth in detention in 2016 (see below): African… Read More

Program helps young people mend family relationships, stay out of detention

A young person can act violently in the home for all kinds of reasons. FIRS – Family Intervention and Restorative Services – is an innovative King County program that works to address the underlying issues that led the youth to in-home violence and keep them out of juvenile detention. “Domestic violence can be pretty complex and it’s not just as simple as a kid acting badly and being violent in the home – sometimes it is – but more often there is a bunch of other factors at play,” said Jeremy Crowe,… Read More