Youth Civic Engagement

NLC's Center for Research and Innovation has assembled a collection of promising and creative city practices that support civic engagement, including initiatives that encourage young people to be more engaged members of their community.

Municipal officials are encouraged to bring youth (ages 15-18 years old) with them to the 2012 Congressional City Conference, held March 10-14, 2012, in Washington, DC. Youth attendees are considered full conference delegates and receive a conference packet, badge, and admittance to all open sessions and workshops. In addition, youth delegates have several special “youth-only” sessions.

City officials are encouraged to invite youth ages 15-18 to the 2011 National Summit on Your City's Families, which will be held Nov. 10-12 in Phoenix as one of four concurrent conferences at NLC's Congress of Cities Conference.  Youth delegates will have a unique opportunity to learn about issues affecting children and families in their cities and towns, and the YEF Institute will host special youth delegate orientation and networking sessions.  

A new guide published by the YEF Institute with support from the Surdna Foundation provides city officials with practical tools for promoting meaningful youth participation in local government.  “Authentic Youth Civic Engagement: A Guide for Municipal Leaders” is informed by a year-long process in which the YEF Institute gathered and synthesized the knowledge and expertise of more than 300 youth development experts, academics, municipal leaders, community organization partners and young adult and youth leaders from across the nation through a series of focus groups, surveys and interviews conducted in 2008 and 2009.

As part of NLC's ongoing commitment to promote youth participation in local government, the YEF Institute has organized special sessions for youth delegates attending NLC’s Congressional City Conference, held March 12-16, 2011, in Washington, D.C.  Youth delegates ages 15-18 participate in the conference, providing them with a unique opportunity to learn about the federal policies of greatest concern to the nation’s cities and towns.

Published with support from the Surdna Foundation, this guide offers practical tools for promoting meaningful youth participation in local government. The guide is informed by a year-long process in which the YEF Institute synthesized the knowledge and expertise of more than 300 youth development experts, academics, municipal leaders, community organization partners and young adult and youth leaders from across the nation through a series of focus groups, surveys and interviews conducted in 2008 and 2009.

The YEF Institute's first-ever report on The State of City Leadership for Children and Families identifies the nation's most cutting-edge city strategies to help children and families thrive.  This chapter highlights the broad range of innovations and trends in municipal leadership around promoting youth civic engagement.
Full report (PDF) | Youth civic engagement chapter (PDF) 

Produced by the Forum for Youth Investment in collaboration with the YEF Institute and the National Conference of State Legislatures, this report highlights six key tasks for creating effective youth councils, examples of strong municipal youth councils, and sample city ordinances, applications, bylaws, release forms, research, and other resources.

This action kit for municipal leaders focuses on youth participation in municipal government and youth involvement in local communities by highlighting strategies to establish a youth council, plan community youth mapping projects to identify local programs and services that are available, host a youth summit, and promote youth service.

More youth civic engagement tools and resources

The Youth Participation Advisors Network (YPAN) helps local officials promote youth participation in local government by sharing research, strategies, policies, and best practices.  YPAN members can learn about a broad range of topics, including youth councils, youth summits and political forums, youth service and service learning, youth mapping projects, youth master planning, youth-adult partnerships, and appointment of youth to municipal boards and commissions. 
Subscribe to the network

Supported by the MetLife Foundation, this project helped six cities - Charleston, S.C.; Lakewood, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; Lexington, Ky.; Portland, Ore.; and Grand Rapids, Mich. - implement comprehensive plans for children and youth.

In 2005-06, the MetLife Foundation City-Schools Youth Planning Initiative offered technical assistance to six cities to help them develop youth master plans.  The selected cities included Charleston, S.C.; Des Moines, Iowa; Diamond Bar, Calif.; Edmond, Okla.; Lakewood, Ohio;  and Minneapolis, Minn.

With support from the MetLife Foundation, the YEF Institute selected 11 cities to receive technical assistance in promoting youth participation in local government. The selected cities included Baltimore; Dallas; Denver; Fall River, Mass.; Inkster, Mich.; Niles, Ill.; Nashville; Norfolk, Va.; Philadelphia; Saginaw, Mich.; and Salt Lake City.  In the first year of the project (2003), assistance was provided to a separate cohort of 11 cities over an eight-month period: Brookings, S.D.; Caldwell, Idaho; Des Moines; Fremont, Calif.; Galveston, Texas; Lawton, Okla.; Macon, Ga.; Nashville; Newport News, Va.; Rock Hill, S.C.; and Tucson.