Overview
In July 2017, the Institute on Disability convened 10 youth-led organizations that provide youth engagement, leadership, youth peer support, and youth development opportunities, in collaboration with schools and community-based organizations, to create a framework that is common across all of their projects and organizations. The members met monthly for over a year, identifying the following activities as part of their mission:
- Connect youth to the community
- Empower youth so their voice is valued
- Help each youth to improve their self-worth and value to the community
- Give back to the community
- Create a safe place to receive support
- Collaborate with others
- Effect change by providing a positive experience for those who may not have had one previously
- Create a “snowball effect”
- Encourage meaningful dialogue so that youth can learn those skills and use them at home or school
The groups adopted this definition of Youth Engagement:
“Youth engagement is a process when young people are involved in responsible, challenging actions to create positive social change. This means that youth drive the planning, decision making, and activities that affect themselves, others, and their communities.”
(Adapted from: Cornell University Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Services, 2018)
The YEP offers this website to serve as a user-friendly resource for youth-led organizations, schools, community groups, parents, and other stakeholders who wish to promote youth engagement and health and wellness for all of our young people!
Our Mission
"Our group works to build capacity for youth empowerment efforts happening across the state through: educating community partners about the importance of youth voice in systems change, collaborative resource sharing, developing indicators of authentic youth engagement, and advocating for more support of and access to positive youth development opportunities statewide."
Project Staff
- Kathryn Francoeur
Project Director: MTSS-B & RENEW Trainer - Joanne Malloy
Research Associate Professor
Resources
The Youth Engagement Project provides free downloadable resources for youth, districts, and schools.
- New Hampshire's Youth Engagement Framework
- Partners in Education: A Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships
- Youth Engagement: A Framework for Building Youth Resilience and Leadership
Find a Youth Organization
- American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire (ACLU-NH) is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization dedicated to preserving the individual rights and liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. - Community Action for Safe Teens (CAST)
CAST works with the schools and youth servicing agencies in Souhegan Valley to engage youth in Leadership, Advocacy, and Community Service. - New Hampshire Children's Behavioral Health Collaborative
The Collaborative is a multi-disciplinary initiative fixing barriers and improving behavioral health outcomes for children, youth, and their families in New Hampshire. - NH Teen Institute
The NH Teen Institute works to empower teens to lead healthy lifestyles and create stronger communities through community-focused prevention and leadership workshops. - Young Organizers United
Young Organizers United (Y.O.U.) is a group of high school-aged youth from various backgrounds who are dedicated to strengthening multi-issue and multi-racial coalitions designed to overcome ethnic and racially disparate treatment in high schools. - Youth for Advocacy, Education, and Healthcare
Youth for Education, Advocacy, and Healthcare (YEAH) Council is a youth-driven and redirected group of individuals with disabilities and/or special health care needs focused on developing and strengthening the skills and resources needed to achieve the unique independent life that we each desire. - Youth Leadership Through Adventure
The Youth Leadership Through Adventure (YLTA) program is a collaborative partnership between Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Prevention Tools (ADAPT), Inc. and North Country Health Consortium to provide a youth-led prevention and leadership development model for students in Northern New Hampshire middle and high schools. - Youth M.O.V.E. NH
Youth M.O.V.E. is a statewide Chapter of Youth M.O.V.E. National, which is a nationwide, youth-driven membership organization that is dedicated to improving services and systems that serve youth such as mental health, juvenile justice, education, and welfare.
