Helping youth and families is integral to the Seattle Human Services Department’s mission to connect people with the resources and solutions they need. Every day, we work with our community partners to help children learn and thrive through our preschool, child care, youth and nutrition programs, and to support parents, families and seniors through family centers, citizenship education for refugees and immigrants, and services for elders. We also provide vital services for homeless people and domestic violence victims.

We are excited by the Mayor’s Youth and Family Initiative and are looking forward to hearing and learning from voices across the city about the challenges people are facing in these tough times and about creative solutions for tackling these problems. As we move forward with the plan, it’s important to keep in mind the good work we already are doing in this arena and to build on our successes. This is particularly important in a time of economic distress and limited resources. For more information about the Human Services Department, please visit www.seattle.gov/humanservices.

— Kip Tokuda, Acting Director, Seattle Human Services Department