Created by the Washington legislature in 2015, the Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account (PSTAA) is expected to direct $318 million from Sound Transit 3-related funds to expand and strengthen equitable supports for youth in our region between 2019 and 2037. We’ve been busy and would like to highlight three PSTAA strategies around King County.
Early Learning Facilities (ELF)
PSTAA’s ELF strategy is designed to increase access to high-quality child care in King County. ELF prioritizes investments in communities where access to child care is extremely limited.
Family Child Care Facilities Fund (FCCFF)
Through PSTAA, King County awarded $541,140 to 25 family home child care providers. These funds will help family home child care providers meet licensing requirements and enhance their quality of care. As a result, the number of slots available to families who qualify for subsidized child care such as Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) will be preserved or increased. Providers may receive critical improvements such as fence or gate repair, replacing a worn-out kitchen or bathroom, or installing guardrails for ADA access.
General Child Care Facilities Fund (GCCFF)
PSTAA ELF’s GCCF strategy also provides resources to renovate existing non-home-based facilities and construct new ones. In 2022, 10 early learning facilities’ projects received a total of $1,990,962. These projects will create an estimated 737 new child care slots throughout King County. Of those, 528 are expected to be subsidized for children from low-income families. King County partners with Enterprise Community Partners to facilitate the GCCFF. Enterprise plans to release another PSTAA ELF funding opportunity later in 2023.
K-12 Community-Based Supports
Love and Liberation is a partnership-based, racial justice initiative led by the Racial Equity Coalition (REC) that provides a variety of services and programs for youth ages 10 to 19, focusing on positive cultural identity development.
Most REC organizations are now providing in-person services to students and families, while others continue to provide services virtually. One REC organization, after consulting with school counselors and reflecting on program engagement, shifted their program strategy to promote safety and awareness of LGBTQ identities through events and social media. Other REC organizations are engaging Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) youth by providing programs that center their interests such as connecting them to mental health resources, hosting study groups, and providing sessions on healthy relationships, ethnic studies, coding, and community organizing.
Love and Liberation is entering the third and last year of its pilot phase. The coalition uses a participatory grantmaking framework that allows them to decide how to allocate funds across the initiative. Efforts are underway to reflect on the initiative’s work so far. A pilot report sharing early themes and recommendations for post-pilot is scheduled to be released this summer.
College, Career and Technical Education
King County Promise (KCP) supports young people to graduate high school and succeed in college. DCHS announced KCP awards in May 2022.
Since the July kickoff, funded partners worked together to strengthen their partnerships, plan programming, and recruit students. They also hosted in-person recruitment events, used social media to connect with community members, and created outreach materials to direct students to resources. KCP advisors are working to ensure that all Promise scholars are successful. This includes students currently engaged in public high schools or community colleges as well as young people seeking to reengage with their education.
Funded organizations are also working in collaboration with DCHS and the Puget Sound College and Career Network (PSCCN) to improve the ways that data is collected and used across systems. These efforts help us continue to build more equitable outcomes for students.
We look forward to sharing more updates about the work of PSTAA soon. Stay tuned!
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