OLYMPIA – Rep. Mari Leavitt, D-University Place, is privileged to receive five appointments: one appointment is to the Dept. of Children, Youth and Families’ (DCYF) Partnership Council on Juvenile Justice (WA-PCJJ); the second appointment is to DCYF’s Early Learning Advisory Council (ELAC); the third is to the National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) Education Standing Committee; the fourth is the Council of State Governments’ (CSG) Housing Committee; and the fifth is to the CSG Western Region Executive Committee.
All five appointments serve a variety of important roles in advising policy development and implementation at the state and federal level. The WA-PCJJ is the primary state advisory group for matters pertaining to juvenile justice, functioning as a common point of analysis, planning and advocacy for youth. The Early Learning Advisory Council was created by the legislature in 2007 to provide recommendations to DCYF regarding strategies and actions that will be broadly supported by parents, childcare providers, and health and safety experts. NCSL’s Education Standing Committee educates Congress and federal agencies about state concerns. It provides state legislators and staff the ability to share and learn about education policy (from K-12 to postsecondary education) in other states. CSG’s Housing Committee identifies best practices among policymakers to address housing issues across the West. Lastly, CSG’s Western Region Executive Committee provides oversight of conferences and events, builds relationships in regional states with leaders, and reinforces CSG’s mission of responding to the needs of state officials.
“I’m honored to be appointed to these councils and committees. Our community and state have an opportunity to share our policy successes and learn from others in the fields of education, housing, juvenile justice, and early learning,” said Rep. Leavitt. “We have much more work to achieve on all these issues, so I look forward to working with my new colleagues to help put people first and uplift all communities through our work.”