TAYSF’s approach to youth and young adult engagement is driven by the mantra of “no choice about us, without us.” TAYSF seeks to bring those who are typically invisible in the system to the decision-making tables in order to advocate for policy changes. TAYSF engages youth and young adults who, from personal and professional experiences, represent the disconnected transitional age youth (TAY) population—those ages 16 through 24 who are disconnected from education, employment and social support systems.
TAYSF’s Young Adult Advocates, Jose Luis Mejia and Claudia Mendez, represent San Francisco’s most vulnerable transitional age youth. The Young Adult Advocates work alongside the TAYSF team and are in the TAYSF office as interns for 10-hours per week. Their work is to gather youth and young adult perspectives to inform citywide system change, represent the needs of transitional youth at policy and decision-making tables, collect information about resources and programs available to transitional age youth, and work to support community education and awareness to build advocacy for TAY issues. TAYSF’s YAA are selected each September from an applicant pool of current TAYSF Young Adult Advisory members.
TAYSF’s Young Adult Advisory is comprised of a dedicated group of 10-15 youth workers who are all between the ages of 18-25 and are interested in advocating on behalf of the transitional age youth population in San Francisco. The Advisory serves as a space for gathering information, providing trainings and resources and creating policy and budgetary recommendations for the disconnected, transitional age youth population in San Francisco. During monthly meetings, the advisory is assembled to discuss current issues impacting the TAY population and to provide feedback to assist policy makers in making informed decisions that are based on the experiences of youth and young adults in San Francisco.
