A5 - State Title V Agency and Family Led Organizations Shape the Future with Intentional Family and Youth Engagement

The typed transcription of this session can be found HERE

Full Description: Family and youth engagement is the process in which families have a primary and meaningful role in all decision-making efforts that impact youth and their families and focuses on improving positive outcomes across various domains. Successful engagement is evident when families and youth are routinely equal partners with state and local leaders in planning, designing, and evaluating services, programs and policies that impact the lives of those served.

It is vital for agency partners and families to collaborate in making decisions that address their youth’s unique strengths and needs, especially in a time of crises. Intentional family engagement requires state and local leaders to model family partnership anchored by mutual respect, bi-directional communication, and shared goals. Additionally, intentional family engagement is essential in improving health equity and inclusion, healthy youth development, and positive transition outcomes.

The State Title V agency and Family Led Organization collaborate to maintain a Youth Advisory Council that is comprised of transition aged youth, ranging from 14-24. The youth are strong advocates and experts in mentoring as many have been diagnosed with physical, mental, developmental, behavioral, or intellectual disabilities. The council meets quarterly to discuss questions, concerns, policies, and situations that are pertinent to their lives. Annual meetings are held with state and local leaders to provide input about critical issues. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the youth met to discuss virtual versus in-person learning, individualized education plans, and mask mandates. Youth were also given the opportunity to share their view on the social unrest taking place throughout the country. Youth and families assisted the State Title V agency to develop two statewide emergency preparedness initiatives following a natural disaster in March 2020. These collaborative efforts provided opportunities for youth and families to learn the importance of advocacy, health equity, and healthy transitions. The efforts also provided a safe space to create alternative solutions to those provided by local school boards, county and city ordinances and other decisions contrary to their beliefs and desires.

This session will 1)Describe how State Title V and Family Led Organizations’ partnership to empower youth and families to address critical issues. 2) Discuss the importance of involving youth and families in state agency person/family centered decision-making processes to improve diversity, inclusion, health equity and disparity elimination, and 3) Provide an opportunity to develop an individualized blueprint on how to model successful youth and family engagement in your state.

Abbreviated Description: Family and youth engagement have a primary and meaningful role in all decision-making efforts that impact youth and families, especially during times of crises or social unrest. Intentional engagement is essential to improve health equity and inclusion, diversity, disparity elimination, healthy youth development, and positive transition outcomes. This workshop will demonstrate how State Title V and Family Led Organizations’ partnership empower youth and families to address critical issues. This session will provide knowledge on the importance of involving youth and families in state agency person/family centered decision-making processes. It will also provide an opportunity to develop a ‘Blueprint of Success’ focusing on how to model successful youth and family engagement in your state.