Enhancing Youth
Participation in the City
June 8, 2023
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Nolan, Sr. Librarian
Megan Maloy, Librarian II
1 THE MEMO
Directive 1
Determine whether the Youth Commission (YC) should be expanded to include voices of those ages 21 –25.
Directive 2
Identify which additional City of San Jose Commissions would benefit from including a dedicated position for youth.
• Create a procedure for selecting youth members for the chosen commissions.
• Direct staff to report the Youth Commission’s findings to the Neighborhood Services and Education Committee (NSE) by the spring of 2023.
2 2
"Not about us
without us"
3 AGE RECOMMENDATION
The Youth Commission does not recommend the expansion of the age eligibility requirements to be appointed to the Youth Commission. • The closeness of ages and experiences of current members is essential to how the Youth Commission functions.
• It would be challenging to offer tailored support to youth with a wide range of ages. • Including young adults could create challenging social dynamics. • It might create unbalanced leadership dynamics.
• Many San Jose boards and commissions already have vacancies, many of which young people ages 18 and over can apply.
In order to further open the door to include more youth and young adults who can be strong advocates for how we might better serve target population groups, the Youth Commission recommends adding a statement that prioritizes the diversity of the city in the special eligibility requirements.
4 2.08.4840 Special eligibility requirements.
A. All members shall, at the time of appointment, be at least fourteen years old and under twenty-one years old.
B. The commission shall consist of individuals with a variety of lived experiences navigating the programs and services available for children and youth, including involvement with school or community activities. The members shall represent the diversity of ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, and economic status of the people of the City of San José. 5 COMPENSATION
We believe youth commissioners should receive paid compensation for their service.
• This is a mechanism to include more economically diverse voices on the commission.
• It incentivizes prioritizing Youth Commission work and events with the goal to increase engagement and participation.
• A model for paid of meetings allows for flexibility for Youth Commissioners the ability to still earn needed volunteer hours for any additional duties. • With the support of this committee, staff will work towards a process to determine compensation before coming to Council.
6 2.08.120 Members - Compensation.
A. Unless otherwise specifically provided by the City Charter or San José Municipal Code for members of a particular board or commission, effective January 1, 2023, each member of each board or commission established under Chapter 2.08 or the City Charter who is a member of a low-income household, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as at or below eighty percent (80%) of the area median income pursuant to 24 CFR 92.2, shall be eligible to be paid the sum of two hundred dollars ($200) per month if they have attended a monthly board or commission meeting. Such members shall be eligible to be paid the stipend even if the monthly board or commission meeting is cancelled.
1. [Notwithstanding the above, due to the need to maintain fulltime student status and related duties, Youth Commissioners may also receive compensation regardless of household income status.
2. Compensation for monthly meeting attendance does not prevent or preempt a Commissioner from holding an internship or earning credit for volunteer hours for service with the City.]
7 EXPANSION OF DUTIES
Why Add Youth Seats to Other Commissions?
• It would increase the number of seats for a quorum on other commissions when we are already looking at a possible increase in commission vacancy due to return to in-person (AB 2449).
Functions, Powers, and Duties
The YC already has established the power:
• "To select and designate members of the commission, youths or other persons to act as commission representatives to all other city boards and commissions, and to agencies, authorities, boards and commissions the city has participated in creating in conformance with guidelines approved by the council."
8 EXPANSION OF DUTIES
Bill of Rights for Children and Youth Audit
• Article 5 revolves around youth having a voice in local government. While the City has certain initiatives in place, such as the Youth Commission, it is unclear how the City meets the other elements in the article. Examples to address the gap are:
⚬ Creating space for youth to provide input on boards, commissions, and committees
⚬ Doing more to inform youth about laws that impact them Roger Hart's Ladder of Children's Participation
• Using Roger Hart’s Ladder of Children’s Participation to frame the current charge of the Youth Commission, the question loomed, why tokenize youth voice in other city advisory and decision-making bodies rather than strengthen the Youth Commission’s role and duty to provide the City Council and the Mayor with "comment and recommendation" on all proposed legislation "that primarily affect the children and youth" of San Jose?
9 2.08.4850 Functions, powers, and duties.
The purpose of the commission is to collect all information relevant to advising the City Council and Mayor on the effects of legislative policies, needs, assessments, priorities, programs, and budgets concerning the children and youth of San José. Before City Council takes final action on any matter that falls within the scope of the Commission’s adopted workplan or the City of San José Children and Youth Master Plan, the City Manager’s Office shall refer the matter to the Youth Commission for comment and recommendation. This referral requirement shall not apply to any matter where immediate action by the City Council is necessary to protect the public interest.
In accordance with the adopted workplan, the Commission shall have the following functions, powers, and duties:
A. To foster greater involvement of youth in municipal government and civic affairs, especially in the City of San José.
B. To study, review, evaluate, advise, and submit recommendations to the City Council or the City Manager pertaining to any problems, opportunities, and concerns of youth as they relate to municipal policies, programs, or projects of the City.
C. To conduct forums and sponsor events on topics included in the adopted workplan in which various governmental and nongovernmental agencies and other community organizations may be invited to participate, to the extent the commission deems such desirable.
D. To select and designate members of the commission, youths, or other persons to act as commission representatives to all other city boards and commissions, and to agencies, authorities, boards and commissions the city has participated in creating in conformance with guidelines approved by the council.
E. To make such recommendations to the council as the commission may find necessary and desirable to carry out the purposes for which the commission is established. 10 RECOMMENDATIONS
These recommendations were determined from feedback sessions with the Youth Commission ad hoc committee and the Library’s Educational Digital Literacy staff.
Maintain the current Youth
Commission ages 14-20 but be
more representative of the
diversity of the City of San Jose.
Recommendation 1
Explore compensating appointed
Youth Commissioners with paid
stipends. This compensation for
service allows for more
economically diverse youth the
ability to participate as well as
increase engagement among
Commissioners while maintaining
fulltime student status.
Recommendation 2
Expand the advisory and
recommendation powers of the
Youth Commission to City Council
and the Mayor and following the
municipal code power and duties.
Recommendation 3
11 Lizzie Nolan
Megan Maloy
[email protected]
[email protected]
Youth Commission
[email protected]