Youth engagement is a powerful way for organizations serving children and families to engage the young people they serve in advancing their work. Youth engagement offers the expertise and partnership of young people to help adults fully understand what it is like to grow up in a rapidly changing world, navigating the diverse systems and policies that impact young people’s lives every day.
Successful youth engagement strategies provide young people with opportunities to gain work experience, acquire new skills, and learn responsibility and accountability – all while making a positive contribution to their communities. From a policy perspective, youth civic participation is also critical to preparing young people for active citizenship and is a strong indicator of economic empowerment.
As the Governor’s Office for Children and the Cabinet for Children explore how best to achieve Governor Hogan’s four strategic goals, it is vital that young people are included in discussions about service improvements, policy decisions, and increasing access to quality services. For example, research shows that civic engagement among youth, including unpaid volunteerism, can halve the likelihood of youth becoming disconnected. In addition, Job Corps sites that implement youth engagement strategies, including youth councils, youth decision-making bodies, and youth surveys, have had better employment and educational outcomes than those that have not. Finally, civic engagement can help low-income youth build social capital and find meaningful education and career pathways, as well as increase the economic resilience of a region.
Maryland provides opportunities for youth to have a voice through a variety of state and local boards and organizations, including but not limited to:
- Maryland Youth Advisory Council (coordinated by the Governor’s Office for Children);
- Maryland Association of Student Councils;
- Maryland Higher Education Commission – Student Advisory Council;
- Student Council of the University System of Maryland;
- Student member of the Board of Education;
- State Advisory Council of the Department of Juvenile Justice;
- Department of Human Resources State Youth Advisory Council;
- Youth Council of the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Delinquency Prevention;
- Maryland 4-H State Council;
- Taking a flight of the youth council.