In 2007, Burien's general fund budget may increase from its current $70,000 to $140,000, according to preliminary Burien City Council discussions.

The council will be discussing next year's budget extensively before it is adopted near the end of 2006.

The increase, said parks director Michael Lafreniere, would be based on the council's adopted 2003 funding policies for human services, which state that the city will review and adjust funding as needed.

Although the fund may double in size, city staff pointed out that a portion of that increase might go to cover loss of funding from King County.

Management analyst Lori Fleming said that the city no longer receives the Community Block Grant (CDBG) funding from the county. Instead, the county now administers these funds directly and they will be focused on emergency shelter and assistance.

"I noticed that New Futures and the YMCA will be cut about 25 percent," said Councilwoman Sally Nelson. "I would like staff to find out what that really amounts to, because both of these organizations have been longtime social service agencies that [the city] has strongly supported, and which have strongly supported the city's objectives."

In his presentation during the April 17 council meeting, Lafreniere referred to a list of agencies the city and county currently fund. According to that list, in 2006 King County allocated $11,000 in child care scholarships to the Highline YMCA.

In addition, the county allocated $14,460 in child and family support to the New Futures program .

These agencies may not receive block grants through the county in 2007, Lafreniere said.

Staff has recommended that the majority of funds should be allocated to programs that work to achieve seven results that were outlined during the meeting.

Some of these results include: Residents are as self-sufficient as possible; residents are proactive to issues of sexual violence; and children are ready for success in education and life.

"These outcomes are not new to many agencies the city currently funds such as the Highline Area Food Bank, The King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, the Domestic Abuse Women Network and the Highline Community Hospital," said Nelson.

Nevertheless, Fleming noted that when the application goes out to the agencies, they will need to know these focus areas.

"None of the agencies are higher priority than another," she added.

After allocation to the agencies that meet the above criteria, staff has recommended that the remaining funds go to support an initiative in collaboration with the Highline School District to address school readiness.

The report that was presented to the council April 3 suggests that Burien should focus on addressing factors that contribute to a lack of school readiness.

One program that staff has proposed as a model to address this problem is Communities in Schools, which is also being actively considered by the school district, noted Lafreniere.

Deputy Mayor Jack Block requested more information on The Community School Partners of Highline program that is implemented at White Center Heights.

"I understand that it's a very successful program dealing with the Head Start and preschool programs, Block said. "Maybe we can copy that program if it meets [Burien's] needs."

Mayor Joan McGilton also requested more information on what role the city would play in the Communities in Schools program.

Staff has suggested that the council approve the human services policy and funding options in early May.

Human service agencies can also expect to receive mailed notifications of the Burien application cycle at that time.