Originally published Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Plan takes aim at disparities in King County
King County will evaluate programs and give managers additional training to narrow racial and economic disparities, County Executive Ron...
Seattle Times staff reporter
King County will evaluate programs and give managers additional training to narrow racial and economic disparities, County Executive Ron Sims said Monday.
Sims, citing statistics indicating that poor people and people of color are more likely to drop out of school and to receive poorer health care than other citizens, outlined a new Equity and Social Justice Initiative.
"It is unacceptable that the color of your skin or your home address are now good predictors of whether you will have a low-birth-weight baby, die from diabetes or your children will graduate from high school or end up in jail," Sims said in a statement.
Public Health Director David Fleming said his staff members will "look at public health through an equity lens" to figure out if they can improve the health of the poor and disenfranchised.
More than half the patients in some county clinics don't speak English, Fleming said. Many public-health workers speak the approximately 100 languages of their patients — but those workers are spread out among various locations.
Fleming said Public Health will compile a database of its employees' language skills. "Knowing who we can call — that sounds so simple that why haven't we done it already? — that's a very important step we can take."
Through the "Thrive by Five" program in White Center, Fleming said, county nurses will visit expectant mothers and mothers of infants who are at higher-than-average risk of having health problems and learning disabilities.
Here are some other actions promised in a 28-page report outlining the initiative:
• Systems will be put in place to make sure "promoting equity is an integral part of doing business."
• Decision-making will incorporate "meaningful input" from disadvantaged communities.
• Corrections officials will study whether more members of minority groups overrepresented in jail can be supervised through community corrections programs instead.
• The county and the Puget Sound Educational Service District will hold a regional forum on closing the achievement gap between children of different races.
Sims gave a preview of the initiative in an opinion piece Sunday in The Seattle Times, writing that the income gap between rich and poor has widened, with King County's African Americans falling further behind whites both in family income and in rates of homeownership between 1970 and 2000.
"We all need to own the reality of inequity by tearing down the curtain that hides it, by naming it, measuring it, talking about it, and by tracking our progress and solving it," Sims said in his statement Monday.
Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Bombs, guns found at home of suspect in Officer Brenton's slaying
How an underdog named Mike McGinn took City Hall
Danny Westneat: Lee the Horse Logger found slow wagon shrank tumor
Parents want answers on new Seattle school boundaries
3 Cascade Mountain passes close due to snow; more rain, wind expected Sunday

Mourners gather at KeyArena for slain officer's memorial
Mourners gathered at KeyArena for the memorial service of Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton on November 6, 2009.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- Flags were key link to cop slaying, bombings
- Suspect shot as city mourns slain officer
- Briefs | Soccer: New Mexico suspends hair-pulling player Elizabeth Lambert
- McGinn pulling away as late ballots come in
- Huskies suffer another heartbreaking loss to UCLA
- Using anti-shooter tactics, civilian Army police officer brought down gunman
- Bombs, guns found at home of suspect in Officer Brenton's slaying
- Heavy snow in Cascades shuts down roads
- Consortium on verge of owning Eastside railway land
- Suspect in officer's slaying shot by police
- UCLA game thread
940 - Suspect shot as city mourns slain officer
389 - Weapons, bomb-making materials found in suspect's apartment
334 - Troubling portrait emerges of Fort Hood suspect
287 - Decision day for health care in the House
200 - McGinn widens lead over Mallahan in Seattle mayoral race
183 - U.S. House passes health plan
125 - Bombs, guns found at home of suspect in Officer Brenton's slaying
96 - Huskies suffer another heartbreaking loss to UCLA
95 - Referendum 71 show's Washington's strategy for marriage equality is working
83
- Suspect shot as city mourns slain officer
- Flags were key link to cop slaying, bombings
- McGinn pulling away as late ballots come in
- Consortium on verge of owning Eastside railway land
- Guest columnist | Cut the South Carolina jokes, Seattle. Get ready to compete
- Movie review | 'An Education' you won't forget
- Practical Mac | With new features, Apple's MobileMe is worth the price
- H1N1 vaccine for high-risk group coming to King Co. pharmacies
- Shoreline man killed when struck by falling tree part
- Do It in a Day | Spend a cozy, homey day in Edmonds





