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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06222004 - PR.2 P'R.2 THE :BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Bate: June 22, 2 }44 RE: presentation by the Countywide Youth Commission (CYC) of its 2043/2004 .Annual Report. The 2003-2044 Summary of Accomplishments was presented to the Board of Supervisors by the CYC. TIIIS IS A MATTER FOR RECORD PUR-POSES ONLY NO BOARD AC'T'ION WAS TAKEN i #04"0"16"Ms 1 2003-2004 Summary of Accomplishments Presented to the Board of:supervisors on ,lune 22, 2004 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 6:30prrm —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 o Communications • Events/Outreach Commissioners have represented the CYC in various advisory roles. Commissioner Barnhart served as liaison to the Library Commission this year. The commission has also worked with Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher's Office, Alcohol and Other Drug Services Division, Alcohol and Other Drugs Advisory Board, County Sheriffs Department, County Library, Family Maternal Child Health Coalition, EarthTeam, Family Center of Northern California, Making Waves, numerous cities, and transportation agencies such as the OCTA, CCCTA and the Bay Area Transportation and Land Use Coalition. We plan on continuing these collaborations and creating new ones next year and beyond. The Commission, in partnership with the Board of Supervisors, sponsored the seventh annual Youth Hall of Fame awards in March 2004, The Commission also identified major issues present in the Forum Report (transportation and police-youth relations) and began the process of working with many county agencies and departments to create resolutions to these issues. 2003-2004 Countywide Youth Commission Summary I Presented to Board of Supervisors June 22, 2004 'Summary of major activities of the Commission in 2.003-2004 Communications The main goal of the Communications Committee is to promote the Commission to other youth and the rest of the community. This year, Communications accomplished this goal through the website, youthcom mission.net, and The Commission's newsletter, The Bridge. The website was revised this year and contains minutes, agendas, meeting dates, The :Bridge, and other various bits of information which provide instant access to Commission information including CYC applications and Youth Hall of Fame nomination forms to download and complete. Three editions of 1,000-1,500 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. Members of the Communications Committee wrote articles in The Bridge with topics such as budget cuts, college admissions, the war in Iraq, gay marriage, and other current events. Furthermore, the communications spent time on organizing and formatting Public Service Announcements that will be sent to various local radio stations to create awareness of the CYC, and its goals. We also spent time reviewing and creating possible replacements for the CYC logo. 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 incudes County libraries, Supervisors' offices, other youth programs, community and daily newspapers, school-related groups, and various media contacts. Event's & Outreach This year, a significant responsibility of the committee was to recognize the local youth's commitment and service to their communities, peers, and schools. The 42 nominations that were received this year represented numerous contributions made by both youth and adults in Contra Costa County. The Youth Hall of Fame honored five young people and one adult in the categories of: Artiste, Good Samaritan, School Leadership, Sports Leadership, Valiant Volunteer, and Adult Advocate. The honorees were acknowledged and presented their awards as part of the annual Cesar Chavez Commemorative Celebration on March 23rd. The honorees' names are recorded at the Board of Supervisors' Chambers in Martinez. The CYC was also assisted in the planning of the 2004 Youth Summit in Pittsburg. The Events Committee was directed with the opening and closing sessions of the Youth Summit. The opening consisted of a game- show activity that tested the participants' knowledge on youth related subjects, while the closing forum gave youth an opportunity to question various policy members of the county. With an attendance of approximately 200-250 youth, the youth summit was a success and we hope to make this a yearly event. The Events Committee has compiled a list of Youth Councils from across the county. This database will be used next year to organize a meeting of the Youth Councils, hosted by the Commission, so that a more unified network may be created between the CYC and individual City Youth Commissions. It is this committee's hope to create a more unified and publicized network of the county's youth. Policy and Bylaws The Policy Committee began to focus on two out of the three prominent points that were raised at Youth Forums that were held throughout the county last year. The Committee sought to address increasing public 20013-2004 Countywide Youth Commission Summary 2 Presented to Board of Supervisors June 22,2004 transportati6h opportunities for youth, improving the relationship between youth and law enforcement officers, and increasing presence of after-school programs throughout the county. The CYC researched transportation issues by meeting with representatives from the Contra Costa Transit Authority (CCTA), Central Contra Costa Transit Authority (CCCTA), and Bay Area Transportation and Land Use Coalition. We began discussions with CCTA and suggested that during the creation of Measure C there be included in the transportation budget allocations for safe transportation for youth on order to better address the issue of transportation opportunities for youth. The CYC send letters and representative to meetings to urge the CCTA to maintain the current 5% allocation of transportation funds for the safe transportation for youth if not increase this amount. While the final amount turned out to be 4.5%, this is far better than the proposed amount in previous plans. The CYC also worked with the CCCTA and urged the CCCTA to review reduced fare programs for the County's youth and selling of bus passes at schools for easy access. The Committee intends to continue to work closely with the CCTA on Measure C and CCCTA in the following year. In addressing improving the relationship between the County's youth and law enforcement officers, the CYC spoke with a representative of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office. The Committee decided that more information was required in regards to which issues specifically were causing such relationships to deteriorate. The Policy Committee will design and distribute a survey for youth in order to collect more information to address the issue more effectively. The second area of focus for the Committee has been drafting and submitting a meeting time recommendation to the Board. The Committee recognizes that many County committees and governing bodies, like the Board of Supervisors, hold meetings during the normal school day, preventing youth representation or comment. The Committee then drafted a recommendation that would create a means for the County's youth to make public comment via electronic or written means such as through e-mail, regular post, or facsimile. These recommendations are forthcoming. Planning for 2004-2005 The momentum generated this year by the new and successful activities will be carried forward to the 2004- 2005 year as the Commission continues to fulfill its goals. The Events & Outreach Committee is looking forward to implementing the Youth Hall of Fame for the eighth year as well as work towards linking the different youth commissions of the county. The Policy Committee will continue to work on the major issues of the Forum Report and 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 CCN and KVHS. The Commission respectfully requests that Board members approve the appointment recommendations by September 2004 so the Commission can begin the program year at full strength. The At-Large Commissioner's terms are expiring and we are expecting most would like to be reappointed. The expectation is that there will be two open At-Large seats to be filled in addition to the reappointments. The District seats will have several Commissioners graduating and their seats will need to be filled by September from new applicants recommended by the Commission. In addition, there will be one Adult 'Volunteer position to be filled. One last, and equally important, request is that the Board 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. 2003-2004 Countywide Youth Commission Summary 3 Presented to Board of Supervisors June 22, 2004