A group with the motto “We Value Kids” was born in the aftermath of horrendous harm to children.
In 1985, 3-year-old Brandon McDonald suffered a fatal head injury in a Snohomish County foster home. The foster father pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, and was sentenced to five years in prison.
By the summer of 1985, a county ordinance was passed to create the Snohomish County Children’s Commission. In January 1986, the commission — the first group of its kind in the state — gathered for its first meeting.
Later that year, on Sept. 26, 1986, Matthew Eli Creekmore, 3, died after being kicked so hard his bowel ruptured. The Everett boy’s father was sentenced to 60 years in prison on a felony murder charge. With those tragedies seared into hearts in our community, the commission resolved to protect and care for the children of Snohomish County.
“We have a passion for kids,” said Chris Hoiby, 69, a retired Mukilteo School District principal who now serves as co-chairman of the Children’s Commission.
On Thursday, the Children’s Commission will celebrate its 30th anniversary at a 4 p.m. event at Everett’s Xfinity Arena. All former and current members of the volunteer advisory group are welcome.
The commission was formed to do research and make recommendations to the Snohomish County Council and county executive on issues related to kids. In three decades, it has made its mark with high-profile projects and quieter efforts.
It played a part in launching the Imagine Children’s Museum and the Dawson Place Child Advocacy Center in Everett. It worked to establish a Child Care Resource and Referral Network, and a Task Force on Teen Pregnancy. Children from families experiencing homelessness were the focus of a Kids in Transition effort. A “Read 2 Me” project involved kids at Denney Juvenile Justice Center.
More recently, the commission has helped produce a DVD about the effects of video violence on kids. It has presented public forums on a federal Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACES).
The group grew out of work, starting in 1984, between then-County Council member Bruce Agnew and local people concerned about kids. It has had as many as 25 members at a time, including two high school students. A dozen people now serve. Commission members have included former Snohomish County Prosecutor Seth Dawson, former Everett Police Chief Kathy Atwood, social worker Bill France, and Terry Clark, a longtime executive director of Little Red School House, now ChildStrive.
Like Hoiby, Laura Hamilton, 64, has been on the commission for a decade. She is retired from a career in special education. The Edmonds woman recalled working on “Have a Heart for Kids” days in Everett and Olympia. Another memorable project, she said, was a forum that brought together a diverse group talking about encounters with police.
Today, she said, the commission is looking into kids’ use of marijuana since its legalization. Commission member Christine Lee Gilson, a research associate professor of psychiatry, is associate director of the University of Washington Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors.
Several years ago, the recession and county budget cuts brought the end of an era. For more than 20 years, the Snohomish County Human Services Department’s Office of Children’s Affairs and Prevention supported the commission’s work. That office closed on Jan. 1, 2009, but the volunteer work of the Children’s Commission continues.
At his View Ridge area home, Hoiby said Thursday that the world today’s kids encounter is vastly different from the one he and his wife, Cathie, experienced. Growing up in Everett, by age 10 he rode his bike wherever he wanted. He remembers when “nobody locked their doors.”
Now, he said, children are exposed to social media. Schools are required to have bullying policies. Gun violence has claimed young lives, in south Everett, at Marysville Pilchuck High School, and among Kamiak High School graduates.
The goals have evolved. In the coming year, Hoiby said the group seeks to reflect the county’s diversity with some new members. The commission also plans to work with the Snohomish Health District on the issues of childhood obesity, youth violence and suicide prevention.
“The commitment has never changed — to provide support and services to children in Snohomish County,” Hamilton said. “It’s a little more under the radar. We continue to be an advisory panel with some extraordinary people.”
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
30th anniversary
The Snohomish County Children’s Commission plans to celebrate its 30th anniversary 4-6 p.m. Thursday in the Everett Events Center at Xfinity Arena, 2000 Hewitt Ave. All former and current commission members welcome. To RSVP, email: constance.franks@snoco.org
Learn more at: http://snohomishcountywa.gov/138/Childrens-Commission
Apply to join the commission at: http://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/128/Boards-Commissions
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