Invest in People First . . .

King County is considering eliminating ALL County general funds for human services in 2010 in order to balance their budget.

CALL TO ACTION: Two ways to make your voice heard!

1)Contact King County Councilmembers today!

2)Come to one or more of the four County budget hearings this fall

October 7 7 pm Bellevue City Chambers
October 13 7 pm Regional Justice Center
October 22 7 pm Redmond City Chambers
October 29 7 pm King County Courthouse, downtown Seattle

WHAT WILL BE ELIMINATED?
~ domestic violence shelters; ~ senior centers; ~ adult day health; ~ emergency food distribution; ~ homeless shelters, including those for youth; ~ services for victims of sexual assault; ~ and programs for youth at risk, and MORE!

KEY MESSAGES
 The King County Alliance for Human Services urges King County Council to maintain current funding for community health and human services for 2010 while we work together to find a long-term funding solution.

 Urgently needed human services have already been cut by almost 50% in the past three years, during a time of dramatically increasing needs and severe economic distress. (Give examples from your program or experience of the need for your services and what will happen if they are cut further.)

 Our communities cannot sustain any further cuts without deep losses to the human services infrastructure. In addition to reducing human misery, maintaining the infrastructure is also more cost effective. It is much more expensive to rebuild this foundation than to maintain it, and will take years to bring back to current levels if it is dismantled.

 Maintaining funding to community health and human services now will save King County money in the long run. Eliminating or reducing human services will drive up the costs of public health and public safety, increasing both human and financial costs to residents of King County. (Give specific examples of how your services save money in criminal justice, healthcare and other crisis services)

 Maintaining current funding for 2010 will not solve the problem of adequate, stable funding for urgently needed community health and human services in the long-term. Our elected leaders must continue working, unabated, to implement long-term solutions so that services are available when King County residents find themselves in need. And at least until those solutions are in place, this temporary set aside is a critical measure to ensure the strength of our communities.

Councilmember Contact Information:
Dow Constantine 206 296-1008 Dow.Constantine@kingcounty.gov
Reagan Dunn 206 296-1009 Reagan.Dunn@kingcounty.gov
Bob Ferguson 206 296-1001 Bob.Ferguson@kingcounty.gov
Larry Gossett 206 296-1002 Larry.Gossett@kingcounty.gov
Jane Hague 206 296-1006 Jane.Hague@kingcounty.gov
Kathy Lambert 206 296-1003 Kathy.Lambert@kingcounty.gov
Julia Patterson 206 296-1005 Julia.Patterson@kingcounty.gov
Larry Phillips 206 296-1004 Larry.Phillips@kingcounty.gov
Pete von Reichbauer 206 296-1007 Pete.vonReichbauer@kingcounty.gov