Youth summit a productive event

To the editor:

The Alaska Youth Policy Summit took place in Juneau Feb. 13-15. The summit brought young adults ages 17 to 24 from multiple places in Alaska to advocate for youth in the state’s social services system (youth in foster care, Office of Children’s Services custody, substance abuse treatment, out-of-state residential care, etc.).

Our group consisted of 18 youth, six alumni and 12 new youth. The summit was hosted by the Alaska Mental Health Board and the Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, with funding from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.

Here in Juneau, we learned how to speak to our legislators, telling our own personal stories and advocating for bills and budget items that we support. The first day we did some team-building activities, which helped everyone feel comfortable and open up with one another. We also got to know about each other, our personal stories and what we felt passionate about.

We met with legislators on the second day. Each of us had visits with our personal senator and representative, but also with others who we felt we could connect with. Overall, the legislative visits went well. We all felt we were making differences for young people who we could relate with. We held a legislative reception with an open mic where several of our participants and a gentleman from the crowd performed.

As follow-up, AYPS participants will work on local projects we hope will inspire other youth to work together on issues affecting young people in Alaska. We are very excited to start helping Alaska become a better place through the issues that we have faced and understand to be important.

Alaska Youth Policy Summit was great this year, and it’s all due to the following people and organizations. Thank you to all of our AYPS youth participants — Karina Marchant and Brittany Arey of Juneau; Lilly Babino, Rusty Best, Brittany Pickens, Angel Gonzales, Fherron Hines, Jane Buckridge, Rebecca Shier, Stephanie Kopietz, Crystal Parrilla, Courtney Morrison and Ilina Saucedo of Anchorage; Victoria Anderson of Dillingham; Slade Martin of Palmer; Alexandra Krauss of Fairbanks; and Connor Eller and Emma Becherer of Kasilof.

Thank you to our adult planners and supporters: Teri Tibbett, Cori Stennett and Scott Ciambor of Juneau; and Amanda Metivier, Heather Harris, Will Fomai, Adam Hembree and Robyn Priest of Anchorage.

Thank you to the organizations that contributed to planning and carrying out the summit: Facing Foster Care in Alaska, Covenant House Alaska, Alaska Youth and Family Network, Juneau Youth Services, ACCESS-Alaska, Ionia, Alaska Mental Health Board and Advisory Board on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Bring the Kids Home and Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.

We would like to express our appreciation and gratitude to the following businesses in Juneau for their contributions: Holy Trinity Episcopal Church for the space; Abby’s Kitchen, Bullwinkles Pizza Parlor, El Sombrero Mexican Restaurant for the meals; the Rock Dump and GoldTown Nickelodeon Theater for the evening activities; and The Rookery for catering our legislative reception.

Alaska Youth

Policy Summit

2012 participants