How to Create a Youth Action Board

Tips To Get You Started

Starting from the right mindset by being genuinely open to youth leadership and seeing young people as the experts that they are;

Identifying a youth partner/coach (a dedicated professional who can mentor and support YAB members); and

Having resources in place, both financial and organizational (e.g., a host organization that can issue payments and reimbursements to YAB members and contract with or hires the youth partner/coach).

Effective Youth Action Boards Should:

  1. Elevate youth voice and leadership
  2. Create opportunities for youth to engage in the community, receive mentorship, develop personal and professional skills, and grow as leaders.
  3. Integrate young people into the organizational framework as stakeholders and active changemakers
  4. Be dedicated to continuous quality improvement.

Effective Youth Action Boards Should:

  1. Elevate youth voice and leadership
  2. Create opportunities for youth to engage in the community, receive mentorship, develop personal and professional skills, and grow as leaders.
  3. Integrate young people into the organizational framework as stakeholders and active changemakers
  4. Be dedicated to continuous quality improvement.

Challenges to Creating an Effective Youth Action Boards:

  • Retention of members and facilitators over time
  • Buy-in from organizational leadership
  • Funding for the program and youth stipends
  • Ensuring the organization’s staff members— from the decision makers to clinicians to support staff— are knowledgeable about trauma-informed approaches and must be willing to shift their fundamental approach to providing services.
  • The ability of youth to work asynchronously with one another outside of scheduled/facilitated meetings

Questions to help you get started

  • Is your Youth Action Boards convening briefly (to develop recommendations on a specific issue, for example) or serving as long-term partners, advising agency staff on every aspect of their work?

  • How will you onboard new members and provide ongoing leadership development for current members?
  • Have you created a decision-making process within your organization and with local partners to ensure youth voices are infused into all efforts to end youth homelessness?
  • Do you have a project budget and plan to raise funds to support the program?  How will you process youth stipends and time cards?

Recruitment

Recruiting and retaining members is an ongoing process, not a task completed just once. In addition, as the demographics of youth experiencing homelessness in the community change, your recruitment and retention techniques may also need to evolve.

Remember:

Starting a YAB as part of your Local Cross System Collaboration (LCSC) is different. Youth serve as co-leaders of, and equal partners in, the LCSC, rather than just sharing input with adults who will ultimately make decisions, carry out the work, etc.

Young people do not need to come in with any particular set of skills but must:

  • Have an open mind and willingness to learn;
  • Be able to receive feedback and process that feedback;
  • Be able to commit the necessary time;
  • Be interested in creating change through cross-system collaboration; and
  • Have relevant lived experience.

All or the vast majority of YAB members should have experienced homelessness. In addition, the group should represent the range of youth experiences in your community. For example, at least some members should have experienced homelessness as minors and some as young adults. Members should include youth of color, youth of different sexual orientations and gender identities, and youth who have experienced involvement in other systems, such as child welfare and juvenile justice.

Build In Diversity From the Beginning Diversity

Building diversity into your recruitment strategy is a key component of a successful youth action board. This could include:

  • Hold recruitment opportunities at LGBTQ-specific events
  • Defining diversity in the Youth Action Board by-laws
  • Hire diverse facilitators who reflect the local youth population experiencing homelessness and housing instability. 
  • Make an effort to create a welcoming, safe, and equitable space for all, especially those who may be in the minority.

Recruiting Facilitators

Recruit within organizations and institutions that engage in work and advocacy around youth development and/or supporting unhoused young people

Recruiting Youth Action Board Members

  • Provide an application process where expectations, objectives, stipend, and goals are clearly stated. 
  • Hold an informational meeting for local youth.
  • Partner with youth to identify the best marketing strategies, including flyers, social media, and word of mouth to recruit youth. 
  • If in a school-based setting, work with teachers, afterschool programs, and administration to do presentations and recruitment 

Capacity Building

Building capacity in a YAB is similar to doing so in any organization. There should be an onboarding process for new members, an ongoing mechanism to enhance their skills and knowledge, and development opportunities for advancement. For example, when a member of the Western PA Continuum of Care (CoC) YAB “aged out,” he was encouraged to apply for a seat on the CoC board reserved for individuals with lived experience (that was not a youth-specific seat) so that the CoC could continue to benefit from his expertise.

Creating a Shared Vision

As part of the YAB’s capacity building, they will want to agree on a shared vision and specific plans and goals. Then, the YAB should work together to determine:

  • What are the goals and objectives to be achieved?
  • What skills do we need to achieve them? Which of those skills do we still need to build?
  • How will we work with others outside of the YAB? What expectations do we need to set for that work?
  • What activities will this involve?
  • How can we do our work in trauma-informed ways and encourage others to do the same?