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Best Starts for Kids 2023 report: county says programs served 151,000 people and readies 2025 procurements
Summary
Best Starts for Kids co-leads presented the program's 2023 annual report showing investments across childcare, prevention and youth services; the levy-funded program served about 151,000 children, youth and families and will launch several procurements and a childcare wage-boost pilot in 2025.
Best Starts for Kids (BSK) co-leads briefed the Health, Housing and Human Services Committee on Feb. 4 about the program's 2023 annual report and related updates for 2025.
The report covers the second annual year of the 2022-27 levy period. DCHS and Public Health co-leads said BSK invested in promotion, prevention, early intervention and policy/systems change and reported that, in 2023, BSK partnered with 336 community organizations operating roughly 591 programs that served an estimated 151,000 children, youth and family members across King County.
Why it matters: BSK is funded by a property-tax levy whose current iteration runs through 2027. The levy supports early childhood, youth programs, childcare and capital projects intended to expand access and equity.
Highlights from the briefing: nearly half of participants were under age 5; roughly two-thirds of people served identified as Black, Indigenous or people of color; BSK investments continued to target areas with higher poverty and lower child-opportunity scores; and BSK maintained its allocations across five strategy areas and remains on track to meet levy allocation goals through 2027.
Looking ahead, co-leads said 2025 will be a major procurement year with several upcoming funding opportunities and invited council members and their staff to participate on work groups and review panels. BSK staff also announced a child care wage-boost pilot launching Feb. 10 that is expected to reach approximately 1,400 child-care workers during the levy period and noted an active capital-projects strategy focused on childcare facilities and multi-use spaces.
Co-leads described capital projects as reimbursement-based, on longer timelines, and therefore slower to show fully expended dollars; they said the department will explore reporting committed dollars as a clearer indicator of progress for that strategy.
Committee members asked for follow-up briefings linking recent comprehensive-plan changes (streamlining childcare and affordable housing development) to BSK capital investments and requested more regular capital-projects status updates. The committee did not take action on the report at this meeting; staff said action is planned for a future meeting.
