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Summaries of community engagement
Explore summaries of community input to the Office of Race, Equity, and Social Justice.
About
To identify community-level priorities for each determinant area, the Determinants of Equity team studied existing resources from community-based groups, including:
- Minutes from meetings
- Reports from committees or not-for-profit organizations
- Interest groups
- Department strategic planning that has already gained feedback and input from community representatives
To validate their findings, the team solicited feedback from community-based groups who represented priority populations: BIPOC and individuals with lived experiences in disability, age, gender identity, religion, and migrant communities. Verification was ultimately conducted with the Pandemic Anti Racist Community Action Group (PARCAG).
Browse the list of resources used in this landscape review. These form part of recent (2019-2021) community engagement of King County departments with community-based organizations and include reports from collaboration among departments and community-based organizations, networks, partnerships, interest groups, findings from surveys, focus groups, listening sessions, etc.
Determinants of equity community input
1. Community and economic development
Community concerns
- Real estate costs pushing small businesses away
- Wealth-building opportunities are minimal for some communities
- Rising costs on property tax and commercial real estate
Community solutions
- Education and economic opportunities.
- Invest in historically underrepresented communities & businesses
- Equitable development efforts to strengthen traditional businesses
- Increase in home & business ownership by immigrants and BIPOC
2. Community and public safety
Community concerns
- Discrimination/harassment
- Homelessness
- Lack of trust in law enforcement
- Youth Safety
- Gun Violence
- Staffing Resources
- Slow response times from emergency response teams
- Lack of community-based resources (community health workers)
Community solutions
- Invest in staffing and resources
- Build trust in government
- Gun violence prevention
- Youth recreation opportunities
- Innovate emergency response teams to adequately respond to 911 calls
- More training for de-escalation in response teams
3. Digital equity
Community concerns
- Lack of internet access for low income households
- Poor broadband service in unincorporated /Urban King County
- Federal and state policies have not solved broadband challenges
- 5G wireless will not solve the unserved and underserved broadband challenges
- Homeless and housing insecure students lacking access
Community solutions
- Access to tech support for non English speakers
- Build broadband capability and access
- Increase digital literacy and training
- Invest in wireline infrastructure to reach rural communities
4. Early childhood development
Community concerns
- Physical and mental health conditions
- Early intervention
- Investment and funding
- Support childcare
- Access for children with developmental disabilities
- Access to:
- Affordable childcare
- Secure housing
- Prompt diagnosis
- Transportation Services
- Mental health
- Food security
- Economic security
- Safe & culturally appropriate shelters
Community solutions
- Additional information & resources available for families with disabilities
- Address cultural & language access barriers
- Address technology barriers
- Anti-racist training and education for staff and providers
- Build trust and nurture relationships with marginalized communities
- Invest in access and support for families
- Improve childcare availability & affordability
- Additional transportation options
5. Education
Community concerns
- Experience of racism on a daily basis
- Perception of not being safe at school
- Lack of mentorship and leadership
- Cost burden of college and housing
- Access to quality education and consistent teachers for children with developmental disabilities
Community solutions
- Safe, supportive antiracist environment
- Invest in education for students who are the farthest away from educational justice
- Deepen connections with teacher to enhance learning
- Build strong relationships between educators, parents, students
- Transformative system that brings human connection
- Cultural specific measures and approaches
6. Equity in county practices
7. Food systems
Community concerns
- Language and culture barriers
- Cost, affordability and access
- Lack of infrastructure
- Need for training and skills for adequate agricultural business development
- Transportation barriers to obtain food
- Food insecurity among youth and seniors
- Lack of culturally appropriate, affordable and nutritious food
Community solutions
- Land use & land access improvements
- Build infrastructure for local food production
- Address root causes/systems
- Improve food security for youth and elder population
- Address food waste, water & climate environment concerns
- Be more flexible with rules and regulation for food production and distribution
8. Health and human services
Community concerns
- Access to services, programs & preventive care
- Cultural & language barriers in services
- Decline of life expectancy in underrepresented populations
- Lack of insurance and alternative medicine
- Chronic disease management
- Untreated mental health
- Unintentional injuries including gun injuries and substance overuse
Community solutions
- Additional support/training
- Homelessness prevention
- Built and sustain partnerships across communities
- Invest in preventive care and improve access
- Increase transportation to health facilities for vulnerable populations
- Address housing, food insecurity, mental health problems
9. Healthy built and natural environment
Community concerns
- Water Quality
- Disproportionate exposure to pollution
- Root causes/racism
- Lack of green jobs
- Inequity in energy access
- Displacement
- Disproportionate impact of climate change in vulnerable /marginalized communities
Community solutions
- Pair open space investment with housing policies/strategies
- Prioritize water quality
- Address root causes/racism
- Invest in green jobs
- Improve energy access
- Invest in green infrastructure and development
- Integrate climate resilience for innovative localized solutions
10. Housing
Community concerns
- Cost Burden
- Housing Conditions
- Root causes and discrimination on the basis of race, nationality and sexual orientation
- Homelessness
- Gentrification
- Long waitlist for affordable housing in BIPOC/low income, disability community
- Eviction practices
- Unsafe and lack of culturally appropriate shelters
- Lack of housing for people with disabilities
Community solutions
- Improve assistance and systems for unhoused
- Increase jobs & training
- Build climate change housing connection
- Improve transportation
- Integrate climate resilience into housing development
- Adjustment and investment in housing to build climate change resilience for marginalized and vulnerable communities
11. Jobs and job training
Community concerns
- Lack of access to living wage jobs
- Limited access to jobs for people with disabilities
- Cultural barriers for recent immigrants to access training/school
- Discrimination in hiring practices
- Lack of training for high paying jobs
Community solutions
- Transition to green jobs
- Training for urban skills jobs
- Youth engagement and training
- Address systems that lead to discrimination
- Invest in entrepreneurship
- Increase workers wages to living standards
- Increase employment opportunities that lead to high paying jobs
- Support for people with criminal backgrounds
12. Law and justice
Community concerns
- Criminalization of mental health, poverty
- Root causes and racism
- Youth detention
- Abuse of force and police brutality
- Lack of funding in education
- Lengthy court processes
- Lack of alternatives to criminal justice system
- Discriminatory law enforcement
- Disproportionate youth discipline
Community solutions
- Additional legal resources and information
- Address system and root causes
- Reduce youth detention
- Invest in gun violence prevention
- Increased transparency/trust in government
- Increase mental health support
- Address harm done and work on healing
13. Neighborhoods
Community concerns
- Increasing real estate, property taxes are contributing to gentrification
- Long Commute
- Long distance walking to bus stops and lack of sidewalks
- Discrimination and unfair practices for LGBTQIA+ community
- Cost burden in housing especially within elder and disability community
Community solutions
- Invest in policies that address gentrification, high cost of housing
- Address discrimination & root causes
- Identify affordable housing projects that can maximize greatest potential for open space
- Prioritize healthy & resilient communities
- Improve sidewalks and transportation accessibility
14. Parks and natural resources
Community concerns
- Homelessness, substance consumption at parks
- Youth safety
- Gun violence
- Staffing resources
- Lack of safety; criminal activity, needle use at parks
- Frontline communities carrying the brunt of climate change
Community solutions
- Improve safety at parks and green zones
- Develop equity toolkits to youth sports/recreational programs
- Partnerships and collaboration with CBO, private funding for green spaces and programs
- Trail volunteers, rangers and park ambassadors to increase safety
15. Transportation
Community concerns
- Lack of access to public transportation for riders with disabilities
- Inadequate resources for limited English speaking communities
- Lack of noise control -sensory overload
- Not enough staff that can appropriately assist with handicap riders
- Concerns around gentrification connected to decreased transportation access
Community solutions
- Intentionally increase services to BIPOC and other historically marginalized groups
- Offer more weekend night services to access resources; libraries, hospitals, schools
- Increase lighting and cameras at bus/train stops
- Develop measures for safety