This case study of youth involvement in public decision-making is one of several done for Health Canada by the Canadian Association for School Health. To return to the beginning of Selected Case Studies of Youth Involvement in Public Decision-Making click here.

The City of Nepean established a Youth Advisory Committee in 1994 to advise the City Council on youth concerns. This committee is comprised of six young people selected from applications solicited through advertising and notices in schools. The role of the Committee is similar to that of other municipal committees. A staff person is assigned to support the Committee and a member of City Council chairs the group and reports back to Council. Recently, the Committee has begun to become involved in organizing projects.

The Youth Advisory Committee has been operating for three years but appears to still struggling to find its way within the decision-making process of a municipal setting. The youth representatives have been selected from organizations that attract high achievers so the Youth Advisory Committee reflects those characteristics. This group is just getting started despite being in existence for three years. It would appear that the primary difficulty is that the Committee is treated exactly as any other city committee composed of adults. The specific needs, processes and supports that are required to support youth participation are not being fully used here. As well, the committee has yet to find a practical niche for its contribution to the city.

A.     Descriptive Data

The Role of the Advisory Committee is not Yet Clear in Practical Terms

The Youth Advisory Committee of the City of Nepean was started in April, 1994. The Youth Committee is to advise City Council. But the link is not clear between Council and the Committee. City professional staff initiated the committee as a response to youth problems being experienced in the city. A consultation of youth was done with the committee being formed as a result.

There are no formal outcomes stipulated. The Advisory Committee has been struggling to find a focus. They are currently considering a new direction; organizing projects for youth.

The Context and History of the City Support Involving Youth

The city has a long history of involving youth. There are a number of recreational programs operated by the City that involve youth and seek their input into programming.

The Committee is Struggling to Reach its Youth Audience

The Committee is to represent approximately 20,000 youth in the community. Ages 11-19 are covered , with a concentration on 11-15 year olds. The audience to be reached is varied in its culture, with all youth in the city as the target audience. The Advisory Committee struggles to be representative. For example, the city's Youth Showcase program is more successful in reaching a mixture of youth. The committee members tend to be middle class achievers, with good records of leadership.

The Assigned Resources are Adequate

There is a budget for meetings of the Committee. If the Committee needs more funds for an activity, they make a request to City Council. No request has been refused, although the requests have been limited in scope. Youth receive honouraria of $30 per meeting like other city committees.

One staff member at City Hall supports the work of the Advisory Committee. A member of the Parks and Recreation Board was on the first group. A member of the Council is also attending the group meetings now. The youth are not certain of the value of such adult attendance.

The Committee is not dependent on other private sector contributions, but the committee may consider seeking support to finance some projects they are considering.

Youth Participation is Barely Sustainable

The group is composed primarily of university-bound students. The members of the group are just now beginning to change from the original set. The members have three year terms, with staggered starting times for individuals. The members of the group are not well linked to the youth of the community and their sources of input are limited to their own original groups from which they were selected.

The Policy Framework for the Committee is Written, but not yet Practical

The Committee has a written mandate, just like other committees of the municipality. The Committee has a written workplan that is the basis of their budget received from the City Council..

One Good Example of Involvement

The youth were able to get a library service improved for youth in one of the regions of the city. To repeat that experience, the committee has supported other initiatives from other youth groups.

The lack of "clout" of the committee within the city decision-making process is the greatest impediment. The lack of focus in the mandate has the committee searching to do projects rather than advise Council.

The most helpful factor acting to improve the Committee's capacity is the continued support from City Hall. The committee is beginning to function more effectively after three years.

B.     Levels of Involvement

Collective Involvement

This is a development (structural)  model according to the CMHA (1995) definitions.

However, despite the fact that the Advisory Committee has been established for the long term, but it is not necessarily connected to city decision-making or to other city youth activities.

The Committee organized a consultation once, but there was little turnout. Only about ten other youth showed up.

C.     Roles Assigned to Youth Participants

Youth Initiate Issues but it is Difficult to Follow Through

Generally, the youth committee members have initiated the issues. The City Council has not sought the advice of the Youth Advisory Committee in a structured way.

D.     The Quality of the Process

The Principles of Youth Involvement

Youth feel safe to speak out. Members of the Committee do not hesitate to speak out at meetings. The members of the Committee identify issues of concern to them and seek to develop ways to address them. However, there does not appear to be a structured process whereby an issue is raised, discussed and then a formal suggestion is made to City Council that is subsequently reported back to the youth Committee.

Several Barriers to Youth Participation are not Being Addressed

The members of the Committee tend to have only a general sense of the city's decision-making process and how they fit within it. The Committee needs a practical, short term activity to get it started. A phased-in approach is being used to overcome fluctuating levels of youth involvement.

On the other hand, the written mandate of the Committee, established by City Council, gives it legitimacy. But few other measures such as organizing meetings and social interactions with other city department staff garnerning, the active support of the City Manager and having a process to bring the Committee's work into the mainstream of the city activities are in place. Budget cuts to other departments have made this even more difficult.

The composition of the Committee (high achievers), relative to the mixed composition of the community's population, makes it difficult to say if the members of the Committee are credible with the youth in the community.

The Committee has had difficulty in being able to complete their assignments on time. There is a consistent pattern of putting things together at the last minute.

Some Enabling Factors are in Place

Travel expenses and e-mail has helped to keep attendance at Committee meetings high.

The designated staff person from the city guides the group. The meeting times are after school in the early evenings to accommodate the participants. Promoting a positive image of youth is seen as the central mission of the Committee.

However, there is no formal orientation or training to help the youth understand the process of municipal decision-making.

The representation from the Parks and Recreation Committee has strengthened the Committee meetings and created another advocate for youth. The representative from the City Council chairs the meetings and assists in the process.

Other departments, such as the Library Board and Parks and Recreation, now see the value of youth participation within the municipality.

The Developmental Needs of Youth are not Always Met

The relevancy of the issues presented for discussion may not be apparent to the youth, as they are often drawn away on tangents. There is no formal recognition process for the members, although sitting on the Committee is prestigious in itself. The Committee also has an opportunity to select the Youth of the Year Award each year. No specific competencies are developed among the youth as a part of their involvement. It is not known if the members of the Committee are forming friendships through their involvement with the city. No specific actions are taken to ensure that the meetings are fun or lively for the youth. Security measures have not been necessary for the meetings or to assure the safety of the participants.

The Accountability of the Committee to other Youth is not Clear

There is no formal consultation process for the youth to use in gathering the opinions of other youth. Some use of the other youth organizations in which they are active in for that purpose. The Committee members are selected by senior city staff  The staff person supporting the committee is not involved in that process. Few applications have been received over the three years.

Adult Support, Outside of the Support for Meetings, is Minimal

There is no active process that is used to promote the Committee within other departments of the City on a day to day basis. Youth participation is supported in the same way that adult committees are supported, there is little attempt to make it lively, to provide positive reinforcement or to allow for listening time with the youth.

There is no attempt to provide emotional support to the youth participating in the Committee.

Guidance in relation to the procedures of the meetings, preparing agendas is provided by staff.

In the meetings, there is an emphasis on creating teams to work on projects. Youth are not taught about resolving differences of opinion. The procedure generally is to take it to a vote.

There has been no occasion when the constraints of the system have had to be explained to the Committee members because they have not sought changes sufficient to have that advice become necessary.

E.     Specific Supports for the Type of Youth Involvement

The members of the Advisory Committee tend to serve for a couple of years. They then graduate from local schools and move on to university. Their involvement is not connected to a coalition of youth groups within the community.

Compared to other committees within the city, the Youth Advisory Committee has had little impact on policy or program development. As a consequence, the Committee is turning towards organizing projects and youth activities.

However, there is a beginning of some recognition of the Committee's expertise on youth matters, The Parks and Recreation Board is consistently referring matters to them for advice. It cannot be said at this time that the Committee has changed the relationship between adults and youth in the municipality.

F.     Evidence of Impacts

There is one example of a Committee activity that did lead to an impact for the intended youth audience. The Committee members were concerned about the literacy levels of youth in a particular neighbourhood within the city. At their suggestion, library services were improved in the area.