First Youth Advisory Council Meets During RTES Leadership Meeting

Megan Paxton, Vice President of Clinical Effectiveness

As a newly Sanctuary certified organization, the Home is committed to practicing seven commitments including nonviolence, open communication, emotional intelligence, social learning, social responsibility, democracy, and growth & change. Recently, we saw these commitments put into practice through the new Youth Advisory Council in our Residential Treatment and Emergency Shelter program.

The Youth Advisory council consists of four of our residents, one from each household, selected by their peers to represent them at the team’s monthly leadership meeting. August marked the first meeting and residents came in with prepared lists from their peers regarding things that were going well and things they felt needed to be improved.

Council members had the opportunity to address leadership with areas of interest and practiced presentation skills as well as active listening. The meeting concluded with the residents not only feeling heard but accomplished in finding solutions to issues that arose. The final job for council members was to take the information back to their respective houses and share the results with their peers.

The Youth Advisory Council will be a permanent staple in the monthly leadership meetings. We are so excited for our residents and this opportunity they have to work on the Seven Sanctuary Commitments as they represent and advocate for their houses.