* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Holton
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
Organizational Meeting - A Committee to Create to A Bill of Rights for the Children and Youth of Baltimore City
FOR the purpose of creating an organizational committee that will create a venue to engage the children and youth of Baltimore City in all-inclusive process to identify issues of the most import to their mental stability, physical health, substantive education, general well being, and future spiritual and economic prosperity; to ratify these issues in an official document comprising A Bill of Rights for the Children and Youth of Baltimore City to be adopted by the City Council; and to ultimately call upon themselves, the community, organizations, governmental entities, and elected officials, as is appropriate, to uphold the provisions of the document through thought, word, deed, and legislative action.
Body
Recitals
In April of this year, Baltimore City leaders announced that because of the strong performance of the Baltimore economy, the Administration is proposing using the projected FY 2006 budget surplus to increase educational, cultural, and recreational opportunities for children in Baltimore. The recommendation is that 56% of this year's projected surplus be allocated to programs that directly support the quality of life for children in the City - ushering an era "where budget decisions now focus on how best to leverage our fiscal responsibility in ways that empower our children." All totaled, the proposal would direct $33.88 million in one-time funds to boost the City's overall investment in children's-centered programs.
While "Children's Budget Expenditures" reflect an increase of nearly $50 million in funding for programs specifically for children over the last 2 years, the needs of Baltimore City's children remain great as the number of children living in poverty in the city grew from about 35,000 in 1999 to nearly 42,000 in 2003, the last year for which U. S. Census Bureau figures are available. And Baltimore, for the most part, mirrors the trends reported 2006 KIDS COUNT Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation that 3 out of 10 child well-being indicators have worsened since 2000 - the number of children living in poverty, the percentage of low-birth weight babies, and the number of children living in families where no parent has full time employment - and there has been a slight improvement in 4 other areas - the child death rate, the teen death rate, the teen birth rate, and the high school drop out rate.
As City officials begin to place a heightened emphasis on the needs of children and youth it is important that the target population be brought into the process. Officials of Portland, Oregon present a good model in the creation of a Children's Bill of Rights that incorporates input from thousands of young people in Portland and Multnomah County, affirming a list of fundamental rights in 6 areas: youth voice; education; health; general well-being; family, home and community; and recreation. The document, as highlighted in the Nation's Cities Weekly, will serve to guide the development of city and county policies and to help local leaders understand the needs of young people from a youth perspective and will promote youth participation in decisions that affect them.
This Resolution seeks to secure for our children what has been ratified by the passage of The Bill of Rights for the Children and Youth of the City of Portland and Multnomah County, the preamble of which states: We, the Children and Youth of the City of Portland, OR and Multnomah County, in order to establish our basic rights, to protect our liberties as human beings, to ensure ourselves a valuable education, and to assert the power to make choices for ourselves, affirm this Bill of Rights for Children and Youth. The decision we make will affect our individual futures and happiness, as well the future prosperity of our local community and of the world. Therefore we call upon ourselves and upon other individuals, organizations, elected officials, and government bodies to recognize these rights, to uphold them through observance, and to defend them through progressive legislative measures.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That there is an organizational committee that will create a venue to engage the children and youth of Baltimore City in all-inclusive process to identify issues of the most import to their mental stability, physical health, substantive education, general well being, and future spiritual and economic prosperity; to ratify these issues in an official document comprising A Bill of Rights for the Children and Youth of Baltimore City to be adopted by the City Council; and to ultimately call upon themselves, the community, organizations, governmental entities, and elected officials, as is appropriate, to uphold the provisions of the document through thought, word, deed, and legislative action.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That all children and youth in the City of Baltimore will be invited and encouraged to participate in this process.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That parents, school officials, parent-teacher associations, members of the business community, members of the faith-based community, mentors, providers of youth services, elected officials, and other stakeholders will be invited to assist the children and youth in this endeavor.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Executive .
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