Youth Advocates Program

Partnering with Youth to Reimagine Services and Systems

California Children’s Trust (CCT), ending December 2024, and California Coalition for Youth (CCY) has partnered with youth leaders to create a Youth Advocates program to:

Support youth in building their advocacy skills.
Offer youth opportunities to change and influence the systems that impact them.
Acknowledge the wisdom and experience young people bring to complex issues by compensating them for their advocacy.

Our systems are failing youth. In 2020, CCY surveyed its youth members and found that even before the pandemic, over 50% of respondents were sheltering in a car, 78% needed help finding a job, and all reported needing support, with most citing need for employment, food, health care, and housing. Adding to that, 1 in 3 adolescents in California report symptoms that meet the criteria for serious psychological distress, but only 5% of low-income teenagers on Medicaid in California received screenings for depression and a follow-up plan. And Black, Indigenous, and youth of color in California experienced more depressive-like symptoms than their white peers.

We are taking our lead from young people to create solutions for a more responsive, just, and equitable system of support.

Youth Advocacy Opportunities

Youth Advocacy Fellowship (YAF)

The YAF offers youth an opportunity to take action, learn, and continue to grow in their advocacy skills, There are already over 300 fellows drawing on their lived experience to explain how and why current youth-serving systems need to change. Advocacy opportunities include:

Public Hearings
Commission and Workgroup Meetings
Youth Focus Groups and Listening Sessions
Written Testimony and Surveys

If you are a youth interested in learning more, or a partner agency wanting to refer a youth for a Youth Advocacy Fellowship opportunity, please contact us at youth@calyouth.org

Youth Advocacy Board

Established in early 2020, the YAB is comprised of youth across California who provide their voice to issues impacting their peers from lack of services, mental health supports, homelessness, and more. Board members serve a one-year term. Apply to CCY’s YAB HERE.

Anya Sabhnani – She/Her

Areas of Expertise:

- Violin/Music
- Community Service
- Communication
- Leadership

I have lived in San Diego my whole life. My free time consists of time spent biking, listening to music, playing the violin, reading, and most significantly, community service. For as long as I can remember, community service has been a part of my life. I began in Kindergarten with Girl Scouts, and have since branched out to targeting several different prevalent issues in society through service projects. From creating a program to teach underprivileged immigrant children English, to actively teaching younger students the violin, I have worked with various youth from different backgrounds. My service within my community made me more receptive to youth outside of San Diego in need of a voice that calls for change to better their lifestyle.

Kassandra “Kassy” Poles – She/Her

Areas of Expertise: Advocating for Previously Incarcerated and Disadvantaged Students, Mental Health Awareness, Athletic Training, Technology and Social Media, working with kids.

Kassy is a 23 year old college student who was born and raised in Vallejo, CA by her loving and supported family. This is her first year on CCY’s Youth Advocacy Board. She currently works at a Nonprofit organization called Putnam Clubhouse, an accredited Clubhouse International facility, that focuses on the social and vocational rehabilitation of those with severe mental illness. Since she was 8 she has struggled with several mental health diagnoses including: ADHD, Bipolar 2, an Eating Disorder, Anxiety and Substance Abuse issues. Having been previously incarcerated, she is committed to fighting to make change in social inequality and advocating for more accessible substance abuse resources, especially for those under 30. She remains resilient and wants to help others by showing them it doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past, you are in the driver seat and you can make your life what you want it to be. When she isn’t working on homework or working, she’ll either be reading, in the kitchen, painting my nails, petting cats or hammocking in a park.

Keanu Shui – He/Him

Areas of Expertise: Advocacy, Outreach, Inclusion

I love advocating, spoken word poetry, and anything that involves strategy. I’m passionate about how inclusion can help shape a person and their identity.

Eric Yang – He/Him

Area of Expertise: Mentoring, Education Reform, Interpersonal Skills

Growing up, I always wanted to help other and build a brighter future, leading me to join the California Coalition for Youth board. Outside of the classroom, I am part of student groups, such as my high school’s Peer Counseling, to work with others. In my free time, I like playing the French Horn and playing Monopoly.

Raghava Kodavatikanti – He/Him

Areas of Expertise: advocacy, public speaking, assembly/senate bills

I am a junior in high school, born and raised in Folsom, CA. As someone deeply interested in public policy, CCY’s Youth Advisory Board provides me with both the platform and the resources to advocate for policy change. Through homeless outreaches and research projects, I have both learned and witnessed how the impact of lack of healthcare, food, and other basic necessities affect the demographic of California. Now, I work with government officials and elected leaders to help make a positive impact in my community. On this board, I hope to advocate for more policy change and improve the lives of disadvantaged communities.

Our Youth Advocates in Action

Youth Advocacy Fellow Submits Letter of Support on AB 586 for Increased School Mental Health Services

“I believe there are two critical things that students need to feel more in control of their own mental health and wellness. First, teachers and students themselves need to have the training and support to really listen to each other and build trusting relationships–in the classroom and embedded in the culture of the school. When we feel secure with our relationships, it lifts the stigma of mental health, and we are in it together. Second, we need programs that educate everyone about mental health and social-emotional wellness. It is something that permeates our levies, and students want to be seen as full people, not just people who are stressed about grades. These types of comprehensive and relationship-building supports take time and investment–they take the commitment that I’m seeing from AB 586.”

– Isabel, excerpt from letter of support for AB 586

Youth Advocacy Fellow Joins CCT for Public Testimony, Assembly Health Hearing on the DHCS Telehealth Proposal

Following on CCT’s recently released report, NO GOING BACK: Providing Telemental Health Services to California Children and Youth After the Pandemic, CCT youth advocates shared their lived experience to amplify key recommendations and advocate for the inclusion of phone and text messaging for all Medi-Cal providers in DHCS’s Telehealth proposal.

“If I’m struggling on any particular day with my issues, I reach out to my therapist first via text because I know she’ll get back to me as soon as she can. She will text with me and stay on the thread as long as I need to get stable and go on with my day.”

– G, Oakland, 20 years old; Full Testimony.

Youth Advocacy Board member engages in Historic Medi-Cal Managed Care Re-Procurement Process

Levi Deatherage, board member of California Coalition for Youth and CCT Fellow, responded to the DHCS Request for Information back in October 2020, urging the state to involve youth in the process and stating:

“Mandating inclusion of the youth perspective and voice in MCP contracts, especially to inform MCP partnerships with community-based organizations and schools, is a critical first step.” Full response.