History and Timeline

King County Promise has been in development since 2017, led by PSCCN staff and in collaboration with numerous partners. King County Promise is endorsed by the Puget Sound Coalition for College and Career Readiness and PSCCN and supported by many partners.

Below is a snapshot of the history of King County Promise, detailing some of the student and partner involvement, leadership engagement, and multi-year advocacy efforts for a sustainable funding source, county partnership, and cross-system partnership. Throughout the process, PSCCN staff has worked to lead with a racial equity lens and facilitate a dynamic, iterative, and inclusive process that strives to model new ways of working together across roles, organizations, personal identities, and geography to better support students who have been historically underserved in our region in succeeding in postsecondary education. 

King County Promise Timeline: 

  • Relationship building (2010-2017). Before the concept of a King County Promise, K-12 and CTC leadership across King County worked together via the Puget Sound Coalition, facilitated by PSCCN, to build relationships and trust.
  • Initial Design (Oct 2017 - Apr 2019). Focused, highly collaborative effort to design the King County Promise with the goal of securing anchor funding through the Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account (PSTAA).
  • Dissemination (Apr-Dec 2019). Ensured that key stakeholders including King County Council members understood the King County Promise vision and plan. Iterated on the design and approach based on feedback and input from King County Promise Strategy Group and engaged partners.
  • Secured King County PSTAA support (August 2019). After two years of design and advocacy at the county level, the King County Promise was identified by the King County Council in the Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account (PSTAA) legislation, Motion 15492, Proposed No. 2019- 0245.3, allocating approximately $112.4 million towards King County Promise. This local investment was a powerful statement of support for the large-scale systems change proposed through the King County Promise. This investment is both major and partial, representing only one funding source of several needed to scale Promise over time. 
  • Refinement (Nov 2019 - Dec 2021). PSCCN convened over 50 partners throughout 6 months to further refine King County Promise model components, engaged with King County DCHS’s implementation planning process, initiated private fundraising requests, and applied to and secured the official role as the SSO.
  • Prepare for Launch (Jan 2022 - July 2022). Current phase: PSCCN staff and DCHS launched a competitive RFP for Phase 1 Partnerships, PSCCN prepared to support Phase 1 Partnerships, potential partnerships convened to envision local implementation and submit joint applications. PSCCN began to develop a comprehensive fund development strategy to secure needed private resources towards early year program operation and scaling.
  • Phase 1 Partnership Launch (July 2022 - June 2024). During the early launch phase, the support services will launch at two Partnerships, expanding to additional partnerships in future years. Implementation of these supports will be phased in to continue model development via the collaborative working group structure. PSCCN will continue to launch and lead coordinated fund development efforts during this phase as well.
  • Phase 2 Partnership Expansion & Scaling (July 2024 - August 2027). During this phase, the inaugural partnerships will continue programming. The full suite of services will be refined throughout Phase 1 implementation and will likely include: (1) common curriculum for high school college readiness seminar and college provided summer bridge program, (2) K-12 and CTC advising for enrolled students and opportunity youth, (3) youth and student feedback mechanisms, (4) coordinated professional learning, and (5) evaluation and continuous quality improvement.
  • Phase 3 and Beyond (July 2027 - 2035). During subsequent phases, additional Promise Partnerships will be identified and onboarded, implementing and refining the full suite of common King County Promise services identified through prior implementation phases.

 

Click play below for the audio version of the article.