This July youth from all over the state convened at the California Department of Public Health’s 3rd annual Ending Violence Against Women and Teen Dating Violence (VAW/TDV) Forum for primary prevention advocates. Youth participants interviewed and filmed each other at the forum and the BOM (Boss of Me) Team from Youth Radio developed a video. Check it out!

Over fifty youth and adults from eight communities throughout the state participated in the Next Generation Capitol Focus, an “extended” version of our longstanding flagship program, Capitol Focus. Read on to learn about what the participants are up to next!

The overall goal of Capitol Focus Next Generation was for participants to develop partnerships that support classroom, community, and state level civic engagement opportunities for youth; and to advance progress on urgent issues facing our state. Participants returned to their communities with action plans to educate their peers on priority issues and motivate others to participate in civic affairs. 

LOCAL ACTION PLANS

This year youth and their adult allies were asked to conduct a follow-up activity in their community such as conduct youth presentations about the issues they studied; classroom activity plans developed by participating educators; and create a local action plan to sustain and expand civic engagement opportunities for youth in each community. Below are some of the team’s local plans.

Sacramento

Youth are developing a Social Justice course at Sacramento High School, to build greater awareness around key policy issues and to empower more youth to be civically involved in the community.

Boyle Heights

At Roosevelt High School youth want to conduct presentations on campus to educate their peers on health, education and criminal justice issues. They also plan to conduct a teacher training on the state government with the goal that more teachers will include this information in their course curriculum.

Yolo County

Youth are collaborating with local elementary schools to build awareness amongst immigrant families and youth on the importance of education and opportunities for civic engagement.

Fresno County

Students are fired up about education reform issues and are partnering with Mayor Ashley Swearengin to reshape education reform policies with in the community.

Freemont

At Irvington High School youth are working with staff from Assemblymember Mary Hayashi’s office to develop a peer-to-peer education program to strengthen student relationships and build a more positive youth environment in the community. They also plan to conduct a youth-friendly classroom presentation on criminal justice issues with the overall goal is to educate their peers on important policy issues.

Chula Vista

Youth are preparing a presentation for over 30 local business partners and stakeholders to educate them on health and education policy issues and the importance of creating more civic engagement opportunities for youth.

El Segundo

Youth have already presented to their school board on the policy issues they learned about at the program as well as the importance of youth getting involved in civic engagement opportunities. One student has began an internship this summer with a local councilmen and plans to support the structure of a government class at his school next year.

NEXT STEPS: CAPITOL PRESENTATION IN OCTOBER 2010

In October we will send two representatives to an State Capitol Presentation by representatives of participating communities and other youth activists that will be made to our advisory committee, sponsor representatives and elected officials that will feature highlights of local civic engagement and state-level policy recommendations to support civic engagement be youth. Stay tuned for more updates!

Click here to learn more about the program achievements!

Last month over 100 youth convened in Sacramento for the 2010 Youth Convergence. Youth had the opportunity to share about their work in creating healthier environments in their schools and communities, and develop tools and strategies affect policy. This conference was put on by the California Center for Civic Participation, California Convergence, Partnership for Public Health (PPH), CANFit, and Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (CCROPP).

The following weekend we hosted our Next Generation Capitol Focus Program, in which we brought together eight teams of youth and adults from through out the state. Teams got to roll up their sleeves and experience first-hand, the issues, processes, and players of our state government. Way to go youth participants and adult allies! Stay tuned for a full report on both programs.

The California Center's much anticipated website is here! Take a minute to check out the website and give us your opinion through our Poll, located on the homepage.

YWHLP and PLPSH youth convened in Sacramento March 7th-9th, 2010 to educate decision makers on adolescent health policy priorities.

The Policy Leadership Program on School Health (PLPSH) and the Young Women’s Health Leadership Program (YWHLP) are a group of youth from throughout the state of California working together to promote and improve school health and women’s health.  Youth identified the following issues as priorities based on the sense of urgency youth feel on their own campuses, current opportunity for policy making, and changes they feel will improve school health and women’s health in the long term. These young leaders would like to make school health and woman’s health issues priority for our decision makers. Here is what they shared with their representatives while at the conference:

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Access to mental health services in essential to ensuring safe and healthy youth. 

COMPREHENSIVE SEXUAL HEALTH EDUCATION
We believe that providing comprehensive, age appropriate sexual health education to all students is the most effective preventative measure to enable youth to make healthier choices in their lives. 

TEEN DATING VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Women of all ages are disproportionately affected by violence and sexual assault.  Women aged 16 – 24 experience the highest per capita rate of intimate partner violence.  Prevention programs save money in the long run, reducing the need for more serious interventions.

SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICES
Access to school based health services ensures students have access to vital medical and mental health services.  This access reduces missed school days, ensures students are healthier and perform better in school.