Families & Education Levy Programs

Seattle voters. The Levy, in partnership with Seattle Public Schools, community organizations, and city and county departments, provides funding for programs that serve children and their families both in Seattle Public Schools and in the surrounding community.

2004 LEVY

Voters approved an expanded Families and Education Levy Proposition ( Adobe PDF) in 2004. While the Levy continues to fund many of the programs instituted in past levies, there is a sharper focus on preparing children to be ready for school, improving adademic achievement and reducing disproportionality, and helping students complete school. Emphasis is placed on serving students and schools that have traditionally underperformed.

All Levy-funded programs focus on meeting five outcomes.

• Ensure that children and youth are ready to learn and do well at school.
• Empower middle and high school students to be healthy and make healthy choices.
• Engage children and youth in safe and constructive out of school activities.
• Enable families to nurture, support, and guide their children and help them
  succeed in school.
• Help schools provide a caring, encouraging environment for students and families.

The Levy is administered by the City of Seattle's Office for Education.
The City site provides brief descriptions of what the Levy is providing regarding Early Childhood Development, School-Based Student and Family Services, Out-of-School Activities and Middle School Support, Student Health Services, High Risk Youth and Evaluation (Accountability). Links to the Families and Education Implementation and Evaluation Plans ( Adobe PDF) provide more detailed information.

CURRENT LEVY FUNDED PROGRAMS

• Early Care and Early Education Program (Comprehensive Child Care Program)
  The early care and education program provides access to affordable, culturally relevant, high-quality, community-based childcare programs so that children can succeed in school and parents can maintain or become economically self-sufficient.
  
  
• Family Centers
  Nine Family Centers offer a wide range of programs and activities to support and strengthen families. Services include parent education, support groups, ESL and GED classes as well as workshops on topics such as nutrition, family budget management, child health and other topics. The centers offer specialized services for teen parents, families with members who are disabled, and a variety of language and cultural groups.
  
  
• Family Partnerships Project
  The Family Partnerships Project was designed to increase schools' systemic capacity to engage families and communities in authentic partnership that supports student learning and promotes academic, social and emotional success for children.
  
  
• Family Support Workers/Services
  The Family Support Worker program provides 55 Family Support Workers (FSWs) in 58 Seattle Public School elementary schools. Workers provide support and assistance to families of students with concerns related to basic unmet needs, academic progress, attendance, health and safety, overall readiness to learn and a variety of other issues. Workers provide outreach, education and advocacy for families, make referrals to school and community programs, visit families at home, assist families and children in solving practical problems and follow up to determine success of referrals. Workers also routinely organize and/or participate in school-based activities to address needs and interests of families.
  
  
• Immigrant and Refugee Parent Support
  Parent support services are contracted to ethnic community-based agencies that have language capacity to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate parent education and youth support services to immigrant and refugee families. Services are tailored to strengthen family support and equip parents with skills to promote success for their teenage children while developing parent-child relationships.
  
  
• K-12 Literacy--Effective Schools
  The Levy provides funding to 15 schools, that have been selected using low test sores and climate surveys as criteria, to take part in staff development activities and receive technical assistance to develop literacy and instructional strategies based on "Teaching for Understanding" principles. This instructional strategy incorporates the latest brain research with instructional best practices. Schools will remain in the project for three consecutive years.
  

• Middle School Afterschool Activities Program
  The Middle School Afterschool Activity Program (ASAP) provides school-based afterschool activities for Seattle Public School students at ten regular middle schools and 8-10 alternative and/or K-8 schools. Activities, which are led by school staff and qualified youth workers from community-based agencies, support youth development and youth connection to school, peers and community. The program also supports site-based coordination, transportation and snacks.
  
  
• Middle School Health Education
  The Comprehensive Health Education program offers curriculum and instructional support to health education teachers with a focus on middle schools. The program also offers district-wide workshops on health-related topics.
  
  
• Middle School Support Program
  Funding at 20 schools supports implementation of strategies that help to meet the developmental needs of adolescents and to improve the school climate. The majority of funding pays for support services for students and families. Activities and program such as counseling, mentoring, extracurricular activities, service learning, life and social skills training, home/school communication, parent involvement and staff development are funded through this program.
  

• Middle School Wellness Centers
  Middle School Wellness Centers provide health education, counseling and basic health care to middle school students within the school setting.
  
  
• Seattle Team for Youth
  Seattle Team for Youth (STFY) is designed to divert youth from gang/criminal involvement, help youth succeed in school and strengthen the youth services system. STFY provides case management; support services and advocacy for gang-involved youth or youth at-risk of gang involvement and/or school failure. The program is a collaboration between the Human Services Department, Police Department, King County Superior Court Services, Seattle Public Schools, Atlantic Street Center, Central Area Motivation Program, Central Youth and Family Services, Metrocenter YMCA, Southeast Youth and Family Services, Southwest Youth and Family Services, SafeFutures Youth Center and YouthCare.
  
  
• Seattle Youth Involvement Network
  Seattle Youth Involvement Network ensures and promotes the development of an effective youth voice among middle- and high school-aged youth by creating avenues for civic involvement, leadership training and decision making.
  

• Secondary School Nurses
  The Public Health Department contract with Seattle Public Schools to provide school health nurses at nine high schools and one middle school. Two additional nurses were provided at Washington Middle School and Garfield High School under contract with Group Health and Odessa Brown Children's Clinic.
  
  
• School-Age Care Program
  The School-Age Care Program provides access to affordable, culturally relevant, high-quality out-of-school-time programs so that children ages 5-12 can engage in safe, supervised, structured activities and parents can maintain or become economically self-sufficient.
  
  
• Summer Day Camp Scholarships
  Seattle Parks and Recreation provides low-income students, referred by SPS Family Support Workers, with day camp scholarships at Parks' community centers during summer and school breaks.
  
  
• Teen Health Centers
  The Teen Health Centers are school-based health centers providing health care, including mental health to high school students in eight Seattle Public School high schools. Seven of the eight are funded in part by the Families and Education levy.
  
  

For more information about FEL programs and Seattle Public Schools, please contact Lisa Taylor, at
206-252-0990 or lmtaylor@seattleschools.org