For over ten years, YouthCare has been running a program called Casa de Los Amigos (Casa) for unaccompanied youth arriving at the U.S. border. The majority of youth served at Casa are fleeing war, gang violence, human trafficking, and extreme poverty. They arrive at Casa alone, with next to nothing. Casa, which is supported by the… Read More of “YouthCare Statement on Illegal Border Closure”
All Home King County released its January 2020 Point-in-Time count results last week and there is cause for both hope and concern. While the count’s methodology has multiple limitations—such as exempting people who are couch-surfing and relying on volunteers to literally count people sleeping outside on one given night—the count offers us a consistent snapshot… Read More of “YouthCare Responds to 2020 Count Us In Results”
Five years ago, King County and the City of Seattle declared a state of emergency on homelessness. Nevertheless, despite modest declines in subpopulations like families and youth, homelessness rates continued to rise almost every year. As thousands of new workers arrived daily, the region’s affordable housing stock shrank. Rents skyrocketed, historic Black and Brown neighborhoods… Read More of “YouthCare Endorses JumpStart Seattle Payroll Tax”
As peaceful protestors across this city have demanded justice against racism and brutality, they’ve faced police clad in military-grade riot gear. Sound grenades. Tear gas. Rubber bullets. Our streets look like a warzone. Last Friday, Mayor Durkan and Chief Best issued a 30-day suspension of the use of tear gas, which was banned from warfare… Read More of “Mayor Durkan: Defund. Reform. Redistribute. Reinvest.”
There is an undeniable link between youth homelessness and institutionalized racism. We are a country that has disenfranchised communities of color, limiting their economic viability and access to opportunity through a system of laws and policies. Systems of oppression that steal childhoods from youth of color who are pushed out of schools and into the… Read More of “YouthCare Stands in Solidarity: Say Their Names. Protest. Educate. Give. Vote.”
YouthCare has signed on in support of a campaign to shut down the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, Washington. We urge you to support this campaign and sign the petition here. What is the NWDC? The Northwest Detention Center is the country’s fourth-largest detention center for people awaiting immigration and/or asylum proceedings. NWDC is… Read More of “YouthCare Endorses Shut Down NWDC Campaign”
What is Referendum 88? Referendum 88 will decide the fate of Initiative 1000 (see below), a ballot initiative approved by the legislature last year. An “approve” vote on Referendum 88 will enable I-1000 to move forward; a “reject” vote will block it from becoming law. What is Initiative 1000? Initiative 1000 would reverse a statewide… Read More of “Approve Referendum 88”
What would I-976 do? I-976 would significantly restrict our state’s capacity to generate revenue for transportation. Among other reforms, the initiative would limit car tab fees to $30 per year and repeal cities’ authority to levy additional fees through Transportation Benefit Districts (TBDs)—the primary means by which 62 cities across the state fund local transportation… Read More of “YouthCare Opposes Initiative 976”
This summer, stories of now-deceased wealthy financier Jeffery Epstein’s sexual exploitations rocked the country. The girls Epstein exploited were mostly young, poor, in foster care or on the verge of homelessness. This story is all too common: Those most vulnerable in our society are also most susceptible to abuse — and, in a cruel twist, often… Read More of “Washington State Must Help, Not Arrest Sex Trafficked, Homeless Minors”
Last week was a horrific week across the nation. Our hearts grew heavy hearing about two consecutive massing shootings—first in Dayton—and then in El Paso. While the motives behind Dayton are still under investigation, we know that the massacre in El Paso deliberately targeted people of color. Violent acts of white supremacy and white nationalism… Read More of “Dual Reflection: The Legacy of Toni Morrison & Confronting White Supremacy”
