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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06172003 - PR1 S EEJ Contra TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ` . •r,., . ,,4 Costa FROM: COUNTYWIDE YOUTH COMMISSION . ,*j "' County DATE: June 10, 2003 ` " : ► +� SUBJECT: COUNTYWIDE YOUTH COMMISSION REPORT FOR 2002-2003 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 DeSauinier, 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 2002-2003 term by sponsoring the sixth annual Youth Hall of Fame Awards; engaging youth in civic activities through countywide youth forums; publishing youth targeted posters, publications, and other materials; and appointing liaisons to youth related community advocacy groups such as the Library Commission. ACCEPT the report of the 2002-2003 accomplishments, as well as future plans and direction, of the Countywide Youth Commission. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE: i-'- RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE DROVE OTHER ACTION OF BOARD C404 APPROVED A E96MMENDED OTHER_ £.. VQTE OF SUPERVISORS _�s_UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ) I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND AYES:_ NOES: CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND ABSENT: ABSTAIN: _1 ENTERED ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DISTRICT III BEAT VACANT SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. ATT5STED Contact:Adam Chow,UC Cooperative Extension .., `�' r ; 926-640-4228 JOHN SWEETEN,C .ERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR cc: Adam Chow,UC Cooperative Extension Shelley Murdock,UC Cooperative Extension / By: 3Z ^+• ,DEPUTY t �0 ttgfri�i:0l +CtS�t� 7w�i?kiMGc�VY/i X17::VLi��i7� ------------ 2002-2003 Summary Of Accomplishments Presented to the Board of Supervisors on June 17, 2003 The Countywide Youth Commission 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 Commission is comprised of 25 young people between the ages of 12 and 18 who reside or attend school in Contra Costa County. 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 Volunteers (one from each district) also help support the Commission. Each Commissioner is expected to attend the monthly meeting, which is held on the fourth 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 Committees during his or her term. Current Committees include: o Policy and Bylaws o Communications & Outreach o Events Commissioners have represented the CYC in various advisory roles. Commissioner Vines served as liaison to the Library Commission for his second term this year. Commissioner Guptill represent the CYC at the Youth-Full Government Conference with the Family, Maternal & Child Health Community Coalition. We plan on continuing these collaborations as well as creating new ones in 2003-04. The Commission, in partnership with the Board of Supervisors, sponsored the sixth annual Youth Hall of Fame awards in March 2003. Another event, the Youth VOTE/Mock Elections to be held in November 2002 was not conducted due to a failed collaboration with the League of Women Voters. 2002-2003 CountyMde Youth Commission Summary t Presented to Board of Supervisors June 17,2003 Summary of major activities of the Commission in 2002-2003 Communications Promotion of the Commission to other youth and the rest of the community is the main goal of the Communications Committee. This goal is achieved through the website, youthcornmission.net and The Commission's newsletter, The Bridge. The website was revamped this year and contains minutes, agendas and meeting dates and other information about the work of the Commission. The website address is included on all agendas, meeting minutes, and press releases and provides instant access to Commission information including Youth Hall of Fame nomination forms to download and complete. Three editions of 1,000 copies each of The Bridge were produced and distributed to County libraries, Board of Supervisors, middle and high schools, Kaiser, and the Teen Age Program. Students from schools around the County and Commission members wrote articles in The Bridge with topics such as budget cuts, teen drinking and driving, and other current events. The Commission e-mail address is used for distribution of monthly agendas, press releases, and for responses to questions and / or application forms. The on-line media distribution includes County libraries, Supervisors' offices, other youth programs, community and daily newspapers, and school-related groups and departments. Events & Outreach As part of the duties of Events & Outreach Committee, the Commission recognizes the sometime over-looked commitment and service of local youth to their peers, their schools and their communities. The honorees for the 2003 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 23 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 panel of ten Commissioners judged the nominations and selected the honorees. The honorees were recognized and awards were presented as part of the annual Cesar Chavez Commemorative Celebration on March 25th. The honorees' names are recorded on a perpetual plaque at the Board of Supervisors' Chambers. Earlier this year the Events Committee developed several methods to communicate directly with the youth of the county. A survey was created to find out the wants and needs of the population's youth and to offer a means of evaluation for the Commission. Commissioner Hom of Events created business cards with information concerning how to reach the Commission to accompany the survey. This survey and card will be offered at future Commission-run forums and county booths. A final task of the Events Committee this year was to begin a compilation of Youth Councils from across the county. This databank will be used next year to organize a meeting of the Youth, hosted by the Commission, so that a more unified network may be created between the Countywide Youth Commissions and individual City Youth Commissions. 2002-2003 Countywide Youth Commission Summary 2 Presented to Board of Supervisors June 17,2003 Policy and Bylaws The Policy Committee reviewed its progress with a proposed Youth Rights Book. After examination, the logistical, monetary, and other problems posed by writing, editing, and printing a Youth Rights Book proved to be beyond the reach of the CYC. As an alternative the Policy Committee, created a flyer with information on the existing sources of information about youth rights, Internet guides posted by ACLU and California Bar Association, and about resources for youth in Contra Costa, the CORD directory. The Committee printed 500 flyers and, with the help of Laura O'Donohue of the Contra Cost Library, we distributed the flyers to libraries, so youth could easily access the information via the library's computers. Next, the Policy Committee worked with the full Commission to plan and facilitate the Youth Forums and created a report based on the information gathered at each forum. The report is divided by supervisorial district and includes a summary of each forum, as well as a list of all topics mentioned by forum participants. The forums gave the CYC a great deal of information about the concerns of youth in the county, and the Commission will continue to study the data in order to suggest policy changes in the future. Planning for 2003-2004 The momentum generated this year by the new and successful activities will be carried forward to the 2003-2004 year as the Commission continues to fulfill its goals. The Events & Outreach Committee is looking forward to linking all the city youth commissions within the county and implementing the Youth Hall of Fame for the seventh year. The Policy Committee will evaluate the results of the six forums and develop an information package. They will also be creating recommendations for the Board. The Communications Committee will be continuing updating the Commission website, publishing The Bridge, and working on a public service announcement with CCTV. The Commission respectfully requests that Board members approve the appointment recommendations by September 2003 so the Commission can begin the program year at full strength. The expectation is that there will be a three open At-Large seats to be filled. The 15 District terms are expiring and will need to be filled by September from new applicants recommended by the Commission. In addition, there will be at least three Adult Volunteer position to be filled by the Supervisors. One last, and equally important, request is that the Beard continues to provide information of youth- related concerns to the Commission and to assist the Commission in developing resolutions and public awareness to create a better community and county for youth. 2002-2003 Countywide Youth Commission Summary 3 Presented to Board of Supervisors June 17, 2003