Council Connection »This Week in Budget 2022; Proclamation on the need for diaper week; Boosters, vaccines, and avoidance of overcrowded hospitals; Seattle City Court Trial

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This week in budget 2022

On Monday, as required by state law, the mayor sent the city council a proposed 2022 budget and a proposed 2022-2027 capital improvement program. Both links allow you to download the entire offer or select a specific department.

The Council’s review of the proposed budget began this week with an overview of the City Budget Office and a round of departmental presentations.

Below are links to the presentations heard in the Special Budget Committee this week:

September 29th:

30. September:

October 1:

No meetings are scheduled for next week as the Council Offices and Central Staff will consider the proposal. The next scheduled meeting of the Special Budgets Committee will be held on October 12 at 5:30 p.m. for a public hearing.

The budget meeting schedule is available on the Budgets Committee website. You can download the budget calendar here.

Budgets Committee meetings have 30 minutes of public comment at the beginning of the morning session. You can sign up at the link to speak.

Proclamation for the diaper need week

On Monday, Council President González and I presented District 1 Treasure Westside Baby with a Diaper Need Week proclamation as part of a national effort to recognize the growing number of families struggling to get enough diapers to keep their babies healthy. Our community is fortunate that Westside Baby is meeting this need during the pandemic, handing out 860,000 more diapers last year than last year.

The diaper need is a growing health problem affecting 1 in 3 families in the United States. Low-income families pay up to 14% of their total income for disposable diapers alone. Here in Seattle, the diaper needs hit BIPOC families particularly hard, as 42 percent of Seattle BIPOC families struggle to afford diapers.

National research shows that diaper needs in young mothers are associated with higher rates of depressive symptoms than hunger. It’s also associated with more frequent visits to the pediatrician for diaper rash and urinary tract infections.

A diaper promotion is a great way to show support during Diaper Need Awareness Week, and I encourage everyone to consider hosting or contributing to a diaper promotion. You can learn more about how to meet your diaper needs at westsidebaby.org.

Boosters, vaccines and avoidance of overcrowded hospitals

Are you entitled to a booster? The CDC recommends booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine for people who have completed two doses of Pfizer at least 6 months ago and who:

The following people may also receive a booster dose of Pfizer vaccine at least 6 months after receiving two doses of Pfizer vaccine, depending on their individual benefits and risks:

Currently, only booster doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are approved by the FDA. Booster doses of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have not yet been approved.

Note: The third dose of Moderna has only been approved for people with severely weakened immune systems, such as people receiving cancer treatments or organ transplants.

I’m working with the mayor’s office and community partners in District 1 to find a host for a temporary, city-run refresher clinic expected to open in October. This effort is unlikely to be as great as the former vaccination clinic in the SW Athletic Complex, but I’m glad District 1 residents will benefit from the easy availability of booster vaccinations.

Hospital capacity is becoming a problem across the country. Getting vaccinated and topped up has never been more important as our hospitals across the state are flooded with Covid cases, the vast majority of which are not yet vaccinated. As the Seattle Times reported, spikes in covid in rural communities with low vaccination rates overwhelm their local medical facilities and “force hundreds of patients to be moved to King County’s hospitals to manage the burden.”

The spike is so acute that Governor Inslee has asked the other Washington for medical assistance, and has asked federal staff, including both clinical and non-clinical staff, to assist the Washington health system in response to the rising hospital stays of COVID-19 .

What if I haven’t been vaccinated against Covid yet? Now is the time, as many King County activities will require proof of vaccination from late October. Fortunately, the COVID-19 vaccine is always free. Anyone over the age of 12 can be vaccinated. Ages 12-17 can ONLY get Pfizer while ages 18+ can get Pfizer, Moderna, or J&J. Learn more about vaccinations for adolescents at kingcounty.gov/vaccine/youth

No appointment required: Most pharmacies, clinics, and public health centers now offer COVID-19 vaccination. Enter your zip code into Washington’s Vaccine Locator Tool or visit Public Health’s Vaccination page to find a vaccination site near you.

Seattle City Court Trial

The Seattle Municipal Court (SMC) is responsible for the criminal prosecution of all misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors, civil violations and other offenses permitted under the Seattle Municipal Code and certain revised acts of Washington law. The court consists of seven elected judges and five appointed judges.

The Auditor’s Office, at the request of the Council, conducted an audit of the SMC’s probation program in relation to the effects of probation on persons of color and the racial proportionality of the imposition of probations, conditions of compliance, and quotas for successful completion and early release by.

On September 23, the Auditor published his report, which contains 14 recommendations (see Appendix B for the full list). The executive summary of the report states:

“Although we identified racial and ethnic disproportionality in the composition of SMC’s 2017-2019 probation population and other aspects of SMC’s probation program, we also saw SMC make progress in implementing the recommendations in the Vera Institute of Court-initiated probation study Justice of June 2020 and our body identified during this examination. However, we also found that more work can be done to address racial and ethnic disproportionality in probation services. Our review of probation data found that blacks / African Americans are particularly over-represented in the most intrusive forms of parole supervision, under-represented in successful parole results, and tend to have cases that remain open rather than closed after commitments are met. While reviewing the impact of probation on the People of Color, we found that SMC’s efforts to promote equity within its probation system were hampered by data gaps and lack of performance results, accurate accounting of fines and fees, and internal controls. We have found that SMC is not following some internal and external policies, procedures, and requirements that can affect successful probation results, especially among people of color. “

The SMC responded to the report attached as Appendix A. Note that the SMC is in the process of upgrading its 30-year-old case management technology, with the new system expected to be fully implemented in the summer of 2022.

This work builds on the Vera Institute of Justice report published in June 2020. I last wrote about it here. In 2020, in response to stakeholder feedback, a desire to reduce the disproportionate impact on court clients, and the recommendations of the Vera Report, SMC redesigned its department for programs and services, including probation services. Seattle City Court reports the following changes:

  • Cessation of review of records, except in cases where monitoring of records is required by law. By early 2021, SMC had reduced file reviews by 78%, which resulted in 1,640 fewer customers on SMC parole.
  • Focused probation services on high risk case types, reducing active customer care by 16%.
  • Eliminate the discretionary supervisory fees charged in criminal matters, including all probation-related fees.
  • Incentives for early release from probation through a goal-oriented approach to supervision. Newly published key performance indicators indicate a reduction in the average length of care to 18.7 months.
  • Implemented a new case closure policy where advisors administratively close cases when clients have achieved their goals.
  • Implemented a customer probation and complaint process and started collecting customer feedback when they leave the trial period. Initial results show that 78% of clients who participated in the survey felt supported, encouraged and motivated by their probation officer.
  • Start collecting self-reported race and ethnicity through a new probation recording process.

I will work during this budget meeting to make sure we move forward on the recommendations of the Vera report as well as the recommendations of the city auditor.

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