Creating and Sustaining Youth Advisory Boards (YABs): A Toolkit for Health and Human Services
This toolkit is designed to assist organizations in developing and sustaining Youth Advisory Boards (YABs) for youth and young adults (ages 14-30). This toolkit is informed by our organization’s experience creating and sustaining a YAB of young adults with lived mental health experience but is designed and tested to be adaptable to the unique population your organization serves. We hope that the materials provided are used as the building blocks to create a meaningful and effective Youth Advisory Board (YAB). By incorporating young adult expertise into the design and delivery of mental health services, these boards ensure services are more relevant and accessible to young adults.
The toolkit is split into four main sections:
- The Introduction provides an overview of why developing an advisory board of young adults with mental health conditions is important and how it can bring value to your organization. The Introduction also provides pre-planning ideas for your agency or organization.
- The Initial Phases & Planning (Phase I) focuses on the basics of planning a youth advisory board and getting top-down support.
- Recruiting & Logistics (Phase II) explains how to recruit, interview, and hire for your board.
- Development & Retention (Phase III) covers meeting logistics, facilitation skills, and planning and running your meetings. The Development & Retention phase also provides information on how to manage conflict, as well as how to conduct YAB evaluations and closure activities.
- Technical Assistance
- All resources
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Young Adult Advisory Board and the current and former staff and faculty members at the Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research who helped develop the contents of this toolkit. We would also like to acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Dara Drawbridge and Jinnia Baiye who piloted and evaluated the toolkit as part of their Shannon Community Safety Initiative project.
The contents of this toolkit were funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, (NIDILRR), United States Departments of Health and Human Services (NIDILRR grant number 90RTEM0005, The Learning and Working Transitions RRTC). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this toolkit do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
Citation
Narkewicz, E. L., McCaffrey, E., & Sudbrock, E. R. (2024). Creating and Sustaining Youth Advisory Boards (YABs): A Toolkit for Health and Human Services. Worcester, MA: UMass Chan Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Implementation Science and Practice Advances Research Center (iSPARC), Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research.
