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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06052001 - P.2 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS •yam_. `r ';� CONTRA COSTA FROM: Countywide Youth Commission COUNTY DATE: June 5,2001 SUBJECT: Countywide Youth Commission Report for 2000-2001 SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION(S): ACKNOWLEDGE that young people today are faced with many important, sometimes life-altering decisions; and that they possess strengths and assets that they can and do use to make a positive difference in their families, schools, and communities. RECOGNIZE that the Board of Supervisors, with the leadership of Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier, established the Countywide Youth Commission in 1994-1995 to utilize and build on the strengths and assets of youth,give youth a direct voice to the Board, involve youth in the governing process and encourage youth to form partnerships which ensure that youth-related issues are more effectively addressed. RECOGNIZE that a primary role of the Countywide Youth Commission is to advise the Board of Supervisors on youth-related policy issues. ACKNOWLEDGE that the Countywide Youth Commission has served the Board of Supervisors and the County during the 2000-2001 term by studying legislation, conducting Youth VOTE 2000, engaging in a summit on the Children's Report Card, sponsoring the annual Youth Hall of Fame Awards, representing youth on the Workforce Investment Board and the Children and Families Policy Forum, and appointing a liaison to the Library Commission. ACCEPT the report of the 2000-2001 accomplishments, as well as future plans and direction, of the Countywide Youth Commission. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR_RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE PROVE _OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF B0A N APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER The d discussed the above matter: APPROVED the above recommendations: and REQUESTED that the Internal Operations Committee assist the Countywide Youth Commission in their efforts to recruit adult supervisors for the Commission. VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A UNANIMOUS(ABSENT�Qnn�. 1 TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact:Shelley Murdock,County Extension EST1�s� ATTED � v V J HN SWEETEN,CLERK OF E BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR cc: CAO _/ BY _ ,DEPUTY BY_� BACKGROUND I REASON(S)FOR RECOMMENDATIOWS): About CYC The Countywide Youth Commission (CYC) is an advisory group to the Board of Supervisors on youth-related issues. Established in 1994-1995 through the leadership of Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier, the CYC is comprised of 25 young people between the ages of 12 and 18 who reside or attend school in Contra Costa County. Term of office is two years. Supervisor DeSaulnier has continued to provide a high level of support for the CYC. Each Board member appoints three Commissioners from his or her District and the remaining 10 Commissioners are appointed to At-Large seats with an additional At-Large Alternate position. Term of appointment is two years, with the District and At-Large seats coming up for reappointment in alternating years. Adult/Parent Volunteers (one from each District) also help support the CYC. Each Commissioner is expected to attend the monthly CYC meeting, which is held on the 4`h Wednesday of each month from 6:30pm —8:30pm. Meeting locations rotate among West, East, Central, and South County. In addition, each Commissioner must serve on at least two Subcommittees during his or her term and all Commissioners are required to serve on the Youth VOTE Subcommittee. Current Subcommittees include: Policy and Bylaws Communications: CYC web page and The Bridge newsletter ➢ Outreach ➢ Events: including, but not limited to,Youth Hall of Fame and Youth VOTE During the 2000-2001 term, the Commissioners worked to educate themselves on policy and local government issues, such as the Children's Report Card; participated in the Youth Job Fair; and conducted Youth VOTE in October 2000. Commissioners also served as liaisons to the Library Commission, Children and Family Policy Forum and the Workforce Investment Board. The CYC, in partnership with the Board of Supervisors, sponsored the fourth annual Youth Hall of Fame awards in April 2001. In addition, the Commissioners worked to prepare and implement Youth VOTE 2000 across the county. Summary of major activities of the CYC in 2000-2001 Youth VOTE The Youth VOTE project's purpose is to educate young people on the purpose of voting and to engage them in the civic process, helping them to become informed and responsible voters as adults. Youth VOTE coincided last October with the Presidential election and, for the first time, was conducted in Contra Costa County by just the Countywide Youth Commission. In the past, Youth VOTE was a regional project including youth commissions from four other Bay Area counties. Government and Leadership teachers and their students from seven high schools and one Saturday program volunteered to coordinate the event at their individual sites. The students discussed candidates and issues included in the Student Ballot Handbook. They set up voting sites and created a process for students to register and vote in the voting booths. Over 1,800 young people cast their ballots for the local, statewide, and national races along with the state propositions and the issues chosen by youth. Results of the Youth VOTE election were provided to the participating schools, Board of Supervisors, and the media for publication in local newspapers. Commissioner tasks in Youth VOTE included: student voter handbook, ballot, and teacher's guide design and production; writing arguments to issues and propositions; and requests for candidate statements and city proclamations to support Youth VOTE. Also, Commissioners and staff recruited schools to hold Youth VOTE, train the teachers and student liaisons at the schools, work with the county election board and the League of Women Voters, oversee the vote tallying, and write and distribute the press releases of voting results. r Summit on Children's Report Card The Youth Summit on the Children's Report Card gave Commissioners and other young people an opportunity to use the County Children's Report Card as a catalyst to think about, discuss and recommend ways to improve life for all youth in Contra Costa County. Attendees chose four of the five Report Card outcomes to analyze at the Summit. Possible solutions were discussed and recommendations presented to the entire summit body. Recommendations will be summarized and provided to the Board of Education and the Board of Supervisors. Communications Awareness of the CYC, its purpose, current issues, and current activities is important to keeping Commissioners and other youth in all parts of the county informed. The Communications Subcommittee has updated the CYC website, www.ccyouthvoice.org, and developed a plan to reinstate The Bridge newsletter. The Bridge includes articles written by Commissioners and students at various county schools that reflect the opinion of the students. Youth Hall of Fame Each year, the CYC recognizes the sometime over-looked commitment and service of local youth to their peers, their schools and their communities. The honorees for the 2001 Youth Hall of Fame represented the valuable contributions made by young people as well as the adults who work with youth in Contra Costa County. A total of 56 nominations were received and five youth and one adult were honored in the categories of Adult Advocate, Artiste, Good Samaritan, School Leadership, Sports Leadership, and Valiant Volunteer. The Commissioners selected the honorees and the awards were presented as part of the annual Cesar Chavez Commemorative Celebration. The honorees' names are recorded on a perpetual plaque at the Board of Supervisors' Chambers. Policy and Bylaws This term, the Commissioners expressed their concerns about statewide issues by reviewing and writing arguments for and against three propositions that were on the November 2000 General Election ballot and in the Youth VOTE student ballot handbook. Commissioners also held focus groups in their schools and chose the three most prevalent youth-related topics to debate and include in the Youth VOTE student ballot handbook. In addition, the Policy Subcommittee is working to strengthen the focus on youth issues by inviting speakers to speak on emerging issues at regularly scheduled CYC meetings and by becoming involved in discussions such as the Summit on the Children's Report Card. The CYC bylaws were also reviewed and revised. . Outreach Making connections with other youth organizations in Contra Costa County is essential to increasing understanding and awareness of issues affecting youth across the county. The CYC Outreach Subcommittee is developing a database of these organizations with the purpose of making contact, informing them of the CYC, and inviting them to discuss ways to solve youth issues and participate in countywide programs focusing on youth issues and leadership. Outreach also recognizes the need to better inform the Supervisors of the CYC's activities. The Subcommittee is creating a packet that will be delivered to each Supervisor by a Youth Commissioner from that District and will include CYC meeting and issues information. It will also give the Commissioners a chance to create a connection with the Board of Supervisors and to invite their Supervisor to attend a CYC meeting. Liaisons Commissioners serve as liaisons to various groups and organizations to form partnerships with schools, community-based organizations, government, and business, which address the concerns of youth countywide. Commissioners are delegates to the Children and Families Policy Forum, Library Commission, and the Workforce Investment Board. These liaison opportunities give the youth of Contra Costa County a voice and the power to change their communities for the better as contributing citizens and representatives of County government. This past year, some of these boards have been working to redevelop their goals and review their focus on youth; thus, youth participation was limited. Children and Families Policy Forum: Two Commissioners are members of the County's Children and Families Policy Forum. Library Commission: One Commissioner represents the CYC on the Library Commission. Workforce Investment Board(WIB):The Workforce Investment Board has been in transition the past year and is developing a plan to make the Board more accommodating to youth. Two Commissioners were appointed last fall to represent the CYC on this Board. Planning for 2001-2002 This year, the CYC has a large number of new Commissioners and, along with many returning Commissioners, will continue to gain strength and momentum for next year. A core committee is already working on the process for Youth VOTE 2002. The Events Subcommittee is looking at revisiting the Summit of the Children's Report Card and implementing Youth Hall of Fame for the fifth year. Next year, the CYC's goal is to identify critical youth-related issues and create awareness and policy to support and resolve these issues. With many returning Commissioners in place to plan and execute events and to keep the commission's news current, the CYC will focus in-depth on youth issues and strategies to address these issues. Policy Subcommittee members are developing plans to identify speakers and forums for youth-related issues as well as scheduling policy and leadership training. The CYC respectfully requests that Board members fill upcoming vacancies by August 2001 so the CYC can begin the program year at full strength. The expectation is that there will be nine or 10 Commissioners who are seeking reappointment, leaving possibly six open district seats. Eight of the 10 At-Large seats will likely remain filled. Additionally, the CYC requests the Board's assistance with the recruitment and appointment of Adult Volunteers. Only one Adult Volunteer position is currently filled for next year. The CYC asks that the Board actively address this concern so that additional adults can be appointed to help mentor Commissioners and assist with CYC meetings and activities. Without Adult Volunteers, it can be more difficult for Commissioners, especially younger Commissioners, from all areas of the County to participate. One last, and equally important, request is that the Board continues to provide information of youth-related concerns to the CYC and assist the CYC in developing resolutions and public awareness to create a better community and county for youth. corarm cos m. T COUNTYW[U'E YOUTH COMMISSION eSfaDI15A1'C -