The Sacramento Youth Commission has undergone quite a transition during this past year. The City of Sacramento created the Office of Youth Development who is now responsible for facilitating commission meetings and supporting the commission’s sub-committees. The commissioners are now meeting with their city council members and are actively seeking ways to improve the lives of youth in Sacramento. This year, the Youth Commission has formed two subcommittees that will serve to move new youth policies forward in the Sacramento area.

The first subcommittee is focused on encouraging and supporting the development and implementation of improved recycling policies in Sacramento area high schools. There are many high schools that have recycling bins on campus but no recycling cans in classrooms or in lunch areas. The sustainability committee will develop and distribute an evaluation/interview form for school teachers, janitors, students; evaluate six Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) schools recycling policies/practices; and develop policy recommendations that will be presented to school principals and the Sacrament City Unified School District. Once these new policy’s are adopted, commissioners will work with student governments and principals to ensure the successful implementation and continued support of the new recycling policy.

The other commission subcommittee is focused on youth employment. This committee will work to increase the quantity and quality of youth employment opportunities in Sacramento. This committees’ primary goal is to develop and present a policy paper to the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA) and Sacramento City Council that encourages SETA and the City of Sacramento to accomplish the following objectives:

• Start a coalition of youth employers and youth employment service providers who will develop an information source of youth employment opportunities and develop a bi-annual publication that highlights youth employment opportunities.
• Host a Youth Job Fair during the month of April where at least 1,000 youth jobs are available and for this event is covered by local media.
• Encourage businesses to adopt a policy where one youth is hired for every ten adult hired, and educate business on youth employment rights and labor laws.
• Develop 50 new paid youth internships in five science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) sectors.

Committee members are passionate about the above stated policy objectives and are meeting with each other regularly to develop action plans and timelines. Office of Youth Development staff are supporting these objectives by coordinating meeting times and requesting that local agencies add the committees’ initiatives to their agendas.