The Philadelphia Compact Youth Committee
The Mission:
- The Philadelphia Compact Youth Committee works under the City of Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health & Mental Retardation Services. We call that DBH/MRS.
- We are Youth Advocates for Children's Behavioral Health. That means we represent young people and add a "youth voice" to the City's system of children's services.
- Our MISSION is made up of three major goals. They are:
- To promote and support the resilience of Philadelphia's youth, and to promote and support the social, emotional, and physical well-being of all children and young people. We do those things by educating people about behavioral health and by serving as mentors and role models for our peers.
- To work to end mental health stigma - especially amonst our peers. We hope to do this by promoting mental hygiene. That means taking good care of your mental health the same way that you would take care of your personal hygiene issues like cleanliness.
- Our third major goal is to serve as youth advocates and ambassadors for the Philadelphia Compact. The Compact is a group of people from all around the city, who work together in order to improve behavioral health services for children and families.
- We use the term behavioral health a lot. It means social, emotional, and (sometimes) physical wellness or well-being. It means taking care of yourself in ways which you probably rarely think about until a problem arises. It's about being able to handle life's challenges and being resilient or bouncing back from crisis.
- Our Youth Committee is made up of youth from the ages of 14 to 21, from all over the city of Philadelphia. We attend conferences and workshops, sit on advisory boards, and participate in decision making meetings which previously had only included adults.
- Our methods for getting out our information includes using skits and role plays, giving formal presentations or speeches, and involving our audience members in interactive games, or what we call pro-social activities.
Challenging Youth to:
*Try something NEW
*Learn about social and emotional wellness
*Be a voice for youth issues
*Become a leader!
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Randy Alexander, Youth Committee Coordinator
