Holding King County to a Higher Standard: 2021-2022 Anti-Racist Policy Priorities

The 2021-2022 policy and budget proposals include down payments for a long-term, permanent shift in the county’s operations to reflect anti-racist priorities and values. The goal of the proposed policy agenda and budget is to meet the needs of and implement positive changes for Black and Indigenous People, Children, and Families in King County.

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Leading with Racial Justice in King County

On June 11, 2020, King County Executive, Dow Constantine, and Public Health Director, Patty Hayes, declared racism is a public health crisis. Since the declaration, in partnership with system advocates, community members, and public servants throughout King County government, Executive Constantine put together a package of proposals that reforms the criminal legal system, and funds ongoing work to confront racism as a public health crisis.

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Financial Policy is Health Policy

Blog re-posted from Communities Count – a resource that supports King County communities in the use of data to promote and achieve equity. How does household debt affect health? Debt is a growing feature of daily life and it shapes our access to vital basic needs, like housing, education and transportation. Household, or consumer, debt […]

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Child Death Review: Prevention through collaboration

Since 2003, not a single child in King County has died from a helmet-preventable bicycle injury. What helped lead to this victory? King County’s Child Death Review – a collaborative effort to identify opportunities and interventions that prevent children from dying. As the ‘doctor’ for the community, we are responsible for looking at broad trends […]

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Pesticides and Pot: What Marijuana Users Should Know

By Jeff Duchin, MD, Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County The passage of I-502 in 2012 means that marijuana is now a legal crop in Washington State. Growers of most of the fruit and vegetables we eat routinely use pesticides and other chemicals to reduce or eliminate crop destruction. Because marijuana […]

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