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A New York State Network of
Youth with Disabilities and Social/Emotional Challenges
Voice, Choice and Power!
Young people coming together to change systems & improve communities.
August 13th - 15th 2008
Albany, New York
YOUTH POWER! is hosting a mega meeting of young leaders with disabilities and social/emotional challenges from across the state. Check out the flyer!
(link opens PDF in new window)
Become a Member Today!
Complete and return the membership form, available
in PDF and Word format.
YOUTH POWER! is a network of young people with disabilities and social/emotional challenges. Together we have decided to speak up about our experiences. We believe that our voice is important because no one knows what it is like for us better than we do. We are not just a program or a service, we are a movement. The youth movement believes in the power of youth peer support. We believe in the power of youth involvement on all levels of service. We believe in the power of youth. We are the voices of the future and there should be nothing about us without us!
YOUTH POWER! is the next evolution of the youth movement in New York State. Our roots began in the mental health system as young peers trying to make positive change in the Children’s Mental Health System. We set out to ensure youth had a voice in every aspect of the systems that served them. We created local peer support groups and individual peer advocacy so that we could help each other through challenging times and to help make sure we had a say in our own services and “treatment plans.”
We also started Youth Advisory Councils in our local communities, inpatient facilities, and government bodies so that we could have a say in system design, implementation and continuing evaluation. We partnered and collaborated with the various child-serving systems by joining planning teams, often with only one youth going into a meeting of providers and blazing the trail. Through the years we have become the unified voice of cross-systems youth, and in the last 3 years we have banded together with cross-disabilities youth. Together we work diligently to build and strengthen an authentic youth movement that works towards improving communities to ensure positive development opportunities for all youth and young people.
We work towards this goal by connecting individual youth and youth groups across the state. We provide technical assistance and training to ensure meaningful youth involvement, empowerment, peer support and peer advocacy. We continue to build on our roots and collaborate with organizations that share common goals. Perhaps one of the most important functions of the YOUTH POWER! Network is to bring the voices of youth to local, state and national government officials through persistent advocacy.
We are currently collaborating with and funded by the National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN), the New York State Office of Mental Health, the New York State Independent Living Council, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. We have grown strong with the generous support of our parent organization, Families Together in New York State, who treats us as an equal partner.
For more information and/or to become involved in our efforts, please contact us at:
Phone: 518-432-0333 Toll Free: 1-888-326-8644
Stephanie Orlando, Director sorlando@ftnys.org x21
Dally Sanchez, Coordinator dsanchez@ftnys.org x34
Check out our 2008 Youth Policy Agenda and our Work and Activities handout!
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