Access to basic needs is key to a successful transition to adulthood, but gaps in the safety net leave many young people without the supports they need. To address these gaps, human services agencies are increasingly recognizing the importance of engaging young people with lived experience navigating safety net programs.
This fact sheet highlights strategies human services agencies can use to authentically engage young leaders in improving safety net services. It draws on insights from a series of workgroups with staff at human services agencies and youth-serving nonprofits, as well as young leaders working with agencies to make benefits more accessible for other young people.
Authentic youth engagement is an approach in which young people individually and collectively draw on their experiences to help shape policies and programs that affect their everyday lives. To equitably engage young people, agencies should reflect on how their operations might reinforce racial inequities and expand their notion of what constitutes expertise. They should also compensate young people for sharing their lived experience and provide professional development opportunities.
Ultimately, sharing decisionmaking power benefits both young people and agencies: young people gain professional experience, while agencies gain valuable insight into what young people need to access safety net programs.
