A Guide for Creating a City Youth Council: How-To
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[Download this how-to section.]
Is your city ready for a youth council?
Who creates and oversees the youth council?
Who serves on the youth council?
How do you establish a youth council?
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IV. Is your city ready for a youth council?
The following three components serve as positive indicators that your city is poised to establish a local youth council:
Concern: Local leaders recognize some degree of need for youth insight in public decision making
Trust: Local leaders envision youth in a meaningful, visible and advisory role
Change: Local leaders are willing to modify existing codes or adopt specific ordinances to promote youth involvement on councils, boards and commissions
V. Who creates and oversees the youth council?
It is up to the governing body to decide exactly who will create and oversee the youth council. In some communities, a Cooperative Extension (such as the local 4-H) is tasked with creating and maintaining the youth council. In others, a local department (such as parks and recreation) is given the task. In others still, a full-time city employee (such as the public information officer or assistant city manager) is vested with the task as part of his or her job responsibilities. Whatever the governing body decides, the youth council should be aligned with the manager’s or clerk’s office for the purposes of housing the council’s meetings and funding various initiatives.
The important thing to keep in mind is that the primary purpose of the youth council is to advise local government officials. Therefore, it is important that the council is truly viewed as an essential part of the local government structure, and not simply relegated off to the side to one department or extension.
VI. Who serves on the youth council?
When thinking about the composition of the student component of a youth council, the following should be considered:
Include at least one, and as many as four, representatives from all local high schools (grades 9-12)
Include a representative for private, charter and home schools
Include students from diverse backgrounds
Consider minimum requirements in terms of GPA and number of unexcused school absences. (It is important to realize that
oftentimes it is not the students with the highest GPAs and attendance rates that would benefit most from being selected for the youth council. Along the same lines, the city may benefit more from feedback not attained from the “highest” academic achievers.)
Think about the geographic area from which you will be recruiting. If your city plans on recruiting through the schools, make sure you consider that not all students in the school district live inside the city limits. The important thing is that you are recruiting from a variety of geographic areas within your city.
Potential council members should be students who have a proven record of leadership, goal-setting, commitment to community service and community values, and who want to create positive opportunities for other youth in the community
Consider representatives from local youth organizations already in existence
Consider students who are not necessarily “the usual suspects” – do not simply select all student government presidents
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VII. How do you establish a youth council?
A. Make it official: First and foremost, a locality should adopt a resolution or ordinance that establishes a youth council. The resolution/ordinance should include sections that specify the following:
Establishment of the youth council
Membership composition (How many representatives should the youth council have? How many representatives should there be from each school? From each grade level?)
Appointment (What will the application process entail? Who will make the final selection of members?)
Length of terms
Member rights, powers, duties, authority, discretion and privileges
Compensation for the youth council liaison if not included in scope of work
Organizational structure
Meeting requirements and procedures
Fundraising
**See Appendix 1 for an example an ordinance establishing a youth council.
B. Invest in the youth council: Align your youth council with the manager’s or clerk’s office through provision of funding and staffing. Develop a thoughtful, inclusive and rigorous application process.
C. Connect, publicize, recruit:
Work with parents and schools to publicize the program:
Send a letter to all parents/guardians describing the purpose and goals of the youth council, the application and selection process, and a contact person for further questions
**See Appendix 2 for an example of a parent letter
**See Appendix 3 for an example of a youth council application form
Ask civics and economics teachers to share with students information about the purpose and importance of youth councils and details on applying for the local youth council
Ask school counselors to actively solicit student applications for the youth council
Have an elected official visit classrooms and clubs
Request an assembly in which the youth council contact person can discuss specifics with potential candidates
Develop posters or flyers for classrooms and counselors’ offices
Post information on Web sites that are visited frequently by high school students (e.g. school Web sites/Facebook/etc.)
Make efforts to advertise in the community (outside of schools):
Contact supervisors of local youth programs/groups, such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church youth groups, recreation sports teams, etc.
Partner with local youth outreach programs, such as the YMCA and 4-H
Run an advertisement in local newspapers/publications
Make announcements at youth conferences or summits
Put flyers up in popular youth “spots,” such as the mall, local record store, athletic fields, etc.
Ask local radio disc jockeys (perhaps local NPR affiliate) to make a short plug on air
D. Make decisions: Thoroughly evaluate applicants in a competitive process. You may wish to hold interviews, either in person or over the phone, to narrow down prospective candidates. You may also want to have a small committee of people, including youth, evaluate the final applicants.
Once decisions have been made, the youth council liaison should return to schools to acknowledge the selected members, send acceptance letters and/or make congratulatory phone calls. Additionally, the decision should be honored through a formal vote by the council/commissioners.
Likewise, a polite letter should be sent to all applicants who were not selected, encouraging them to apply again in the future.
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