Report from Taking Stock of Youth Wellbeing in BC Today: A Forum

TAKING STOCK OF YOUTH WELLBEING IN BC TODAY: A FORUM

June 11, 2009 at Vancouver Community College

FORUM OVERVIEW AND THEMES

In spring 2009 First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition staff proposed a forum to look at issues facing youth in BC today as a result of the publication of a number of reports that highlighted key issues relating to youth wellbeing in BC at this time.First Call invited coalition partner the Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks and funder Vancouver Foundation to meet to discuss this proposed initiative. All the agencies agreed on the timeliness of such a meeting, and Vancouver Foundation and PeerNetBC became the event co-sponsors.

Purpose:
The purpose of this forum was to bring together youth, and the agencies that work with youth, to ‘take stock’ of youth wellbeing in BC and to examine the highlights of new research, identify gaps in services to youth, and focus our work on advocacy initiatives and policy recommendations to address those gaps.

Participants:
Forum information was sent to a broad range of individuals, agencies, business and government through First Call, Vancouver Foundation and other contact lists. In addition, a poster was widely distributed (Appendix 1). One hundred and seventy (170) people registered and one hundred and forty-four (144) attended on the day of the forum, including 40 youth aged 25 and under (Appendix 3).

Forum Program:
The Forum program (Appendix 2) began with a welcome to Coast Salish traditional territory by Elder Doris Fox. This was followed by an overview of the current context of youth demographics in BC by Mark Gifford. Members of the Vancouver Foundation Youth Vital Signs Council presented the findings of their ‘I Am Vancouver’ report. Duncan Stewart from McCreary Centre Society spoke to the report ‘A Picture of Health: Highlights from the 2008 BC Adolescent Health Survey.’

A panel then discussed key issues and concerns of specific youth populations that included representatives from the following communities:
 Aboriginal
 Immigrant and refugee
 Youth in care
 Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and queer
 Youth living with disabilities

Panel members included:
– Rebecca Jules of Knowledgeable Aboriginal Youth Association
– Karen deLong of BC Association for Community Living
– Chris Friesen of Immigrant Services Society of BC
– Jocelyn Helland of Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks
– Lydia Luk of GAB Youth Services

Most of the panel presentations also featured young speakers involved with the above organizations.

These presentations were followed by discussion groups on key issues that impact youth wellbeing, including: housing, substance use/abuse, youth-friendly communities, education, health/safety, employment/income security, and youth in care. The discussion groups provided participants with opportunities to work together to identify current issues, services, barriers to accessing services, service gaps, potential solutions, and ways to engage youth in public policy planning and advocacy.

The group discussions were lively, with participants fully engaging in identifying core issues of concern to youth today as well as proposing solutions, advocacy and policy directions to be worked on in the future. The overarching theme that emerged in all groups was the need for communities to listen and hear what youth have to say and involve them in decision-making about programs and services that affect their lives.

Some additional key themes that emerged were lack of affordable, accessible and safe housing; the need for youth to be included in community tables and decision-making to ensure youth-friendly communities; and the need for a low barrier continuum of services for those youth with substance use and abuse challenges, including harm reduction and prevention.

The cost and availability of post-secondary education was identified as a barrier for many youth, and there was a desire expressed for increased funding to non-academic programs such as trades and arts to make these choices more accessible and affordable. The youth in care group focussed on the challenges of inconsistent support services, constantly changing support workers, and the need for youth to remain connected to family and sibling groups.

>> Download Report from Taking Stock of Youth Wellbeing in BC Today: A Forum.