What is Youth & Family Voice?
Youth & Family Voice refers to the ideas, opinions, experiences, perspectives, attitudes, knowledge, actions, and involvement of young people or caregivers – and their meaningful inclusion in the creation and implementation of programs, policies and practice.
Why is Youth & Family Voice important?
Parents and youth provide an authentic perspective that contribute to a deeper and richer understanding of mental health needs and how the system works for families. Organizations and agencies should listen to those most impacted to ensure services and programs are equitable and effective.
Examples of Youth & Family Voice
Youth & Family Voice starts with sharing power. Sharing power allows youth and families to meaningfully participate in the planning, implementation, and evaluation process of system and organization level initiatives.
Involving lived experience can look different from one organization to another. There are different levels to how an organization can incorporate lived experience:
Partnership - Equal Power, Input, and Investment in Mutually Agreed Upon Outcomes:
Lived Expert Co-Chair · Community Advisory Board · Lived Expert Grant Reviewer
Involvement - Youth & Families Contribute to Project or Initiative:
Workgroups · Committees · Lived Expert Panel
Engagement - Sporadic Consultation with Youth & Families:
Focus Groups · Surveys · Public Hearings · Public Comment
Support
Know you are not alone in breaking stigma and empowering the authentic perspective of lived experience! The Office of Children’s Mental Health is one of the few sources that provides connections to the wealth of resources needed to develop and empower these lived experience leaders, so that you can confidently and effectively implement lived experience leadership into your programs.
Please reach out at any time to OCMH@wi.gov.
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