INCLUSIVE RECRUITMENT & LOCAL SUPPORT FOR YOUTH

Participants are nominated by adults representing local schools, community organizations, elected officials or public health agencies.  A host organization or school assumes articulated responsibilities to support the youth’s work in return for a stipend.  This spreads a vested local interest in the success of the youth.  An essential component of recruitment is to include a diverse range of participants (racial, ethnic, gender, sexual preference) and youth who are struggling or have unmet potential as leaders.

YOUTH-LED ACTION RESEARCH

Preliminary low-intensity action research sparks each site’s thinking about their community and the issue(s) they will address throughout the year.  These activities are designed to initiate confidence-building and empowerment.  Activities might include:

• Interviews of students, school principals, providers, or local elected officials
• A Media Review to track down related articles
• A PhotoVoice assessment.

TRAINING ACADEMY

Our three-day retreat, conducted each Fall, brings together teams from each policy initiative supported by the California Center.  Participants:

• Exchange information about their communities
• Participate in team-building activities
• Learn how to navigate political landscapes
• Identify youth opportunities and priorities
• Begin development of the community organizing skills that are the foundation of their work.

After digesting information specific to their initiative, each team forms a local vision and action plan to guide their local efforts to advance their initiative’s goals and youth priorities.  The Fall Academy is co-facilitated each year by college-aged PLP Alumni who serve as near peer mentors for the new group of youth.

LOCAL TEAM MEETINGS

This on-going element builds on the momentum of the Fall Training, when youth return to their home communities.  Site teams meet regularly, and do additional research to deepen their knowledge.  This also helps build relationships with allies who can support their ideas and greater youth participation in their initiative.  Activities might include:

• Surveys
• Interviews & focus groups
• Roundtable discussions
• Identifying & interviewing key decision-makers, committees & processes
• Presentations to city council & school boards
• Development of a refined a action plan to advance youth & community priorities within their initiative

These activities help increase the visibility of the youth and they promote youth development and equity goals by setting the state for including youth in an expanded variety of decision-making processes.

REGIONAL TRAININGS & SITE VISITS

During one-day sessions for youth teams at proximate sites, participants re-connect with one another and reaffirm the importance of youth as a political force in their initiative.  They:

• Discuss what they learned during their community engagement and local projects
• Refine and prioritize their action plans

Additional site visits by staff occur as needed.  These mid-point sessions are a key opportunity for growth and expanded awareness.  Youth are now more apt to see themselves, their work and their adult allies in the context of their initiative, and related state and national policy goals.

LOCAL YOUTH PROJECTS

Projects do not constitute long-term policy and systems change.  However, youth (and adults) remain motivated and engaged if they have an opportunity to launch or complete projects that mark the success of their early efforts.  These projects provide a take-off point that enable participants to “get” policy and systems change if they do not already.  Their visibility draws parents and other under-resented stakeholders into the broader change effort.  Success provides youth the legitimacy to confidently promote broader policy goals to sophisticated and sometimes skeptical adults.  Past projects include:

POLICY PLATFORM & SACRAMENTO CONVENING

During this late Spring meeting of youth from all of the sites, participants get training on state government and the policy landscape affecting their issues.  They will:

• Develop a policy platform based on their local research and meetings with legislators, executive branch officials and key stakeholder groups
• This is presented at a briefing at the State Capitol for key elected officials
• Participating youth become sought-after allies and participants in a variety of state-level processes

Local adults who support the youth credit this meeting at the Capitol for “breakthrough” elevation of youth confidence and effectiveness.  Youth return to engage as advocates, educators and representatives on their initiative’s committees and work groups.

EVALUATION & STRATEGIC PLANNING

Youth and adults from partner communities, staff, and allied adult stakeholders and decision-makers complete annual evaluations and participate in follow-up conference calls and meetings.  Lessons learned, obstacles and opportunities for progress during the next year are considered and strategic priorities are developed.

Contrary to the perception among many that youth want instant success, most come to understand that policy and system change takes time and is something they are doing for their younger siblings and future generations.  PLP youth retain their affiliation their communities and our program in subsequent years, returning to mentor their younger peers and become adult leaders.

YEAR-END CELEBRATION

During these regional gatherings, adults from partner sites, staff, parents and other adults from the community gather to celebrate each individual youth participant and the team’s accomplishments for the year.  Certificates are presented, and youth, their parents and others develop the highest possible aspirations for their education, career and civic engagement, as well as for a stronger community.