This year YP! celebrated it's 10 year anniversary an WOW it has been an amazing decade.  YP! has grown to almost 600 active members and a diverse annual operating budget of over 1 million dollars. YP! has helped to make positive changes in child-serving systems and has ensured the voices of youth are heard at the highest levels of government. 2017 is coming to an end and so is my time as the Director of YOUTH POWER! I will be finishing up transition tasks within the next two weeks. It has been incredibly fulfilling to mentor young leaders working in peer services and public policy.  I have seen the Youth Peer Movement grow in size, expertise, and opportunity. I have seen the passion and dedication the "next generation" of Youth Peer Leaders and I am confident YP! will continue to thrive in a new era of leadership.

 

For nearly 20 years, it has been my goal for to build a youth-run network that would be able to sustain itself indefinitely. I started in the peer movement in 1998 as a young person who struggled with mental health issues and was a high-school dropout.  In 1999, I was trained and employed as a Youth Peer Advocate and was elected the Chairperson of the New York State Office of Mental Health Youth Advisory Council (OMH YAC). By the time I was graduating college I was offered a position as Statewide Youth Coordinator for Families Together in New York State.  I spent 2 years traveling the state with a spending budget of about $8,000 and the task of empowering more young people to be advocates and change agents.  To execute this task I worked with other experienced youth peer leaders who I had met in my time on the OMH YAC. In 2007, we invited a group of younger leaders to work with us as founding members of the YOUTH POWER! network and as the YP! Advisory Board. 

 

As the only leader who has served the entire life of YP!, it was difficult to know when it was time to pass the torch to a new Director. This year all of the signs were there.  YP! has a strong and resilient Board with a clear vision; we had the staff ready and able to serve as a management team; I heard the thoughtful, passionate advocacy of the Youth Peer Services Advisory Council, which will serve as the guiding force of Youth Peer Services; and I saw YP! staff and members taking up new causes and rallying others to join them.

 

 It has been a great honor to build the YOUTH POWER! network and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to pass the torch to an outstanding set of young professionals. One of my slogans the past year or two has been "YOUTH POWER! is what you make it."  I can't wait to see what our members do next. In the words of Justin Dart, the father of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), "LEAD ON!"

The Regional Team is hosting a FREE event called STOMP OUT STIGMA! to take place on December 9, 2017, from 12 p.m. - 3 p.m in Kingston. Young people 12-29 with systems experience (mental health, disability, addiction, foster care, juvenile justice, etc.) are invited.  Are you marking your calendar?

Stigma. Discrimination. They affect young people. How? Why? What can we do? Young people will hang out with like-minded peers, find peer support, and share experiences they have had with stigma and discrimination so we can advance change.

 

What to expect: pizza (who doesn't like free pizza?), rock painting #ActivismRocks, human rock paper scissors (what's that, you ask? come find out), music, and other young people sharing their stories.

Registration:  www.YPStompOutStigma.Eventbrite.com. Paper registration is available  here if needed.  Registration is required!

Click here for the flyer.

For more information or if you have any questions, Contact Brennan Williams at [email protected] or call/text 518-322-2096

Job Title:  Program Coordinator: Department of Workforce Development

Supervisor: Susan Burger,  Director of Workforce Development         

FTE:  Full

 

Please send a resume with cover letter to Susan Burger at  [email protected]

 

The Program Coordinator works as part of the Department Workforce Development under the direction of the Director of Workforce Development.  Responsibilities include overall coordinating of training and credentialing for Family Peer Advocates and Youth Peer Advocates. 

On Tuesday January 30 th, Please Join the Fostering Youth Success Alliance for Advocacy Day in Albany, NY.

Help advocate for the continued funding support of the Foster Youth College Success Initiative (FYCSI). First established in April 2015, FYCSI aims to connect foster care youth and alumni to financial supports and comprehensive resources on college campuses through the opportunity programs. FYSA released their first report, Fostering Independence, in May 2014, which identifies the unique challenges youth face while transitioning from foster care to college. Just 18-24% of youth in care will enroll in college after high school. FYCSI aims to enable foster care youth and alumni with the resources necessary to achieve a college degree and become independent.

Transportation will be provided via charter bus, you must RSVP for a space on the bus during your registration for advocacy day.

To register, visit www.fsyany.org/advocacy-day-2018.

Seeking Youth Members for the New York State Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (JJAG). Youth members must be under the age of 24 at the time of appointment and can fall under the following categories:

• Volunteers who work with juvenile justice
• Youth workers involved with programs that are alternatives to confinement, including organized recreation activities.
• Persons have been or are currently under the jurisdiction of the juvenile justice system.

The New York State Juvenile Justice Advisory Group ( JJAG), made up of the key players in juvenile justice in New York, is committed to supporting a fair and equitable juvenile justice system in New York State, one that is data driven and research based. Appointed by the Governor of New York, the  JJAG serves to supervise the development and implementation of New York State's federal juvenile justice plan, review and approve all grant applications for federal juvenile justice and delinquency prevention funds.  The  JJAG convenes quarterly and the meetings alternate between NYC and Albany however, video conferencing is available at both sites.