Behavioral Health Youth Advisory Board

Purpose

Purposes of the Sacramento County Behavioral Health Youth Advisory Board (YAB) include:

• To develop and empower a diverse group of youth to use their voices and talents to improve their community and advise policy leaders on what is needed to create a youth-friendly behavioral health community, including mental health as well as substance use prevention and treatment;
• To increase youth voices and engagement in the development and implementation of policies, practices, and programs that impact the behavioral health and wellbeing of Sacramento County youth up to age twenty-four, through;
  • Direct input and feedback regarding the behavioral health and wellness needs of youth to the Board of Supervisors and other public agencies, committees, and coalitions, and;
  • Engagement with public agencies and other related committees and workgroups;
• To expand the number of trusted peer-to-peer messengers around youth behavioral health and wellbeing;
• To increase the community of youth with skills to:
  • Understand formal behavioral health systems,
  • Discuss and describe behavioral health and wellbeing,
  • Advocate for a youth friendly, culturally-relevant behavioral health and wellness system of supports; and
  • Envision and promote a youth-friendly behavioral health community; and
• To engage the public and other community-based youth groups within Sacramento County and its cities to develop a youth advocacy agenda around behavioral health and wellness.