How To Get Involved

What Is Youth Involvement?

Youth involvement is actively engaging youth in positive learning environments with challenges and opportunities for growth academically, emotionally and physically. Youth involvement helps develop individual and group participation in various situations – support groups, youth planning committee, decision-making, volunteer work, sports, the arts, music and relationship building.

Youth should be active in the decisions that affect them. The greater the youth involvement in decisions, the more active they are in youth engagement and the stronger the connection with the community. Youth should always have a seat at the table because their input is important!

Why is youth involvement important?

Youth involvement is important because all young people need support and opportunities to be involved in positive youth development. Youth development is engaging youth in building the knowledge and skills to meet their social and personal needs and to become healthy, happy and successful members of their community.

Youth involvement also helps them:

• understand and value their experience with the mental health/child welfare/juvenile justice systems,

• learn how to be an effective community leader,
• learn how to be a mentor and how to recruit and train other youth, and
• be a part of the change in how community agencies and organizations work with youth

Youth are the experts in their field. They know what works for them and what doesn’t. Youth have a unique perspective they bring to the table which allows their input to benefit everyone involved from the case management level to the administrative level.

How can youth get involved?

Our project goal is to encourage youth to stand up for change by letting their voices and actions be heard.  We encourage youth to get involved in program activities and youth leadership training with friends, family, neighbors and acquaintances they meet along their journey to understanding the meaning of resiliency.

Be an advocate for yourself and other youth by getting involved. One voice can change the minds of many.

There are a number of ways you can become involved.

Full Stakeholder Meetings are typically held the first Monday of the Month from 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm at Bethany Baptist Church (149 Beattie Street). The meetings are open to any interested individual and are used as a forum to discuss pressing issues in children’s mental health, what we can do about them and to help prioritize OnCare efforts.

Work Groups typically meet once a month and are structured around specific projects.

Click here for a description of each work group.

Contact Bruce Brumfield at bbrumfield@communityalternatives.org for more information and to get involved!