A “Youth Bill of Rights” adopted by the King County Council this month doesn’t require any action from elected officials, but its sponsor hopes this and the creation of a youth council will ensure that young peoples’ priorities have a meaningful role in policy debates.
The Youth Bill of Rights was drafted over several years with input from more than 2,000 local young people ages 7 to 24. The document lists 10 priorities: basic needs and well-being; health; education and learning; equity and social justice; safety and security; community and belonging; environment; transportation; youth voice and recreation and sports.
A motion to adopt the Bill of Rights passed unanimously earlier this month, with one councilmember excused.
“As a country, we’re not always the best to our young people,” Rod Dembowski, the King County Councilmember who sponsored the motion, told Cascade PBS. “This is a way to lift up their voices, put them in front of people that are writing budgets and passing laws to say ‘Here’s what we think we need.’”
Will the Bill of Rights have a concrete impact on King County’s policies? Dembowski said “The truthful answer is it could go either way.”
The effectiveness of the document will depend on how seriously elected officials decide to take it, Dembowski said. He hopes councilmembers consult the Youth Bill of Rights when considering budget or policy decisions that could impact young people.
“One of the things we can do is bring forward this Bill of Rights and say ‘Well, the young folks in this county said they care about basic needs and well-being,” Dembowski said. “‘They care about health. They want investments in education and learning.’”
The task force of young people who worked on the Youth Bill of Rights also recommended that the County Council create a youth commission of appointed representatives to advise the Council. Several Washington cities, including Seattle and Tacoma, have youth commissions in advisory roles. Dembowski said a youth commission could help “empower” the new Youth Bill of Rights. He hopes to start working on establishing the commission later this year.
“If folks don’t bring the [Youth Bill of Rights] forward, or if we don’t establish the youth commission, then it certainly could fall by the wayside and be set on a shelf like a lot of government reports,” Dembowski said. “But hopefully that doesn’t happen.”