The Y and Civic Health

Advancing “civic health” – how communities are organized to define and address public issues – requires inclusion of youth voices. The Y’s civic health strategy invests in our work to empower young people – not just as program participants, but as active contributors and stakeholders in decision-making within our organization and civic institutions.

The Y will pave the way for young people to improve the civic health of their communities by expanding access and participation in Youth and Government

Civic Health Champions

All Youth and Government Advisors (and YMCA Staff/Volunteers, if applicable) are eligible to become certified YMCA Civic Health Champions, who work to assess and strengthen the civic health of their schools through the Youth and Government program.

To become a certified champion:

• Certification Form
  Submit your certification form and schedule a short consultation with our YMCA Civic Health Advisor.

• Civic Health Goals
  Submit your two (2) annual goals for your delegation.

• Youth Civic Health Survey
  Administer the survey to your delegation as well as a sample size of your school’s student body (as allowed by school/state policy).

• Civic Health Report
  Submit your report by the end of the school year.

Your certification automatically renews (you do not need to resubmit the certification form) once you submit your goals, surveys, and report by the end of each school year.

Civic Health Champions are eligible to request Civic Health Funding once per school year that can be used to support their Youth and Government delegation.

Civic Health Goals

After completing your certification form and consultation, the next step is submitting your annual Civic Health Goals for the school year, which are based on two consistent metrics that allow champions to track their progress year to year:

• Goal 1: Program Representation
  How can you work to ensure that your Youth and Government participants represent the dimensions of diversity within your student community? What strategies would you like to explore to increase accessibility, inclusion, and overall participation?

• Goal 2: Program Impact
  What impact can your Youth and Government participants make on the civic health their non-participating peers and overall student community? What strategies would you like to explore to increase their impact?

Youth Civic Health Survey

During the school year, champions facilitate their school’s participation in the Youth Civic Health Survey, which measures indicators of civic health adapted from the Volunteering and Civic Life Supplement of the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey:

Youth Civic Health Survey

Each champion administers the survey to both their delegation members (after their participation in all program events for the year) as well as a sample size of their school’s overall student body (as allowed by school/state policy).

Civic Health Report

After their delegation completes all Youth and Government events for the year, and once they have finished administering the Youth Civic Health Survey, all champions will submit their end-of-year report.

This report asks for a summary of their progress towards each Civic Health Goal, as well as any lessons learned that they want to build into delegation planning for future years.

Over the summer, the Y’s Civic Health Advisor will review your report and analyze the data from your school’s survey responses and provide you with a summary of the results.

Civic Health Funding

All certified Civic Health Champions are eligible to request Civic Health Funding once per school year that can be used to support their Youth and Government delegations.

The process for requesting Civic Health Funding varies for each state program, so please use our online funding guide to determine how to submit your request.

Questions? Email YMCA Civic Health Advisor Jamie Engel at jamie@ymcayag.org