Purpose
Purposes of the Sacramento County Behavioral Health Youth Advisory Board (YAB) include:
- To develop and empower a diverse group of youth to use their voices and talents to improve their community and advise policy leaders on what is needed to create a youth-friendly behavioral health community, including mental health as well as substance use prevention and treatment;
- To increase youth voices and engagement in the development and implementation of policies, practices, and programs that impact the behavioral health and wellbeing of Sacramento County youth up to age twenty-four, through;
- Direct input and feedback regarding the behavioral health and wellness needs of youth to the Board of Supervisors and other public agencies, committees, and coalitions, and;
- Engagement with public agencies and other related committees and workgroups;
- To expand the number of trusted peer-to-peer messengers around youth behavioral health and wellbeing;
- To increase the community of youth with skills to:
- Understand formal behavioral health systems,
- Discuss and describe behavioral health and wellbeing,
- Advocate for a youth friendly, culturally-relevant behavioral health and wellness system of supports; and
- Envision and promote a youth-friendly behavioral health community; and
- To engage the public and other community-based youth groups within Sacramento County and its cities to develop a youth advocacy agenda around behavioral health and wellness.
Behavioral Health Youth Advisory Board Meetings
Meetings to resume on the first and third Tuesday of the month from 5:00pm to 7:00pm beginning November 7, 2023.
All meetings are open to the public and members of the community are encouraged to attend.
How to Join the Behavioral Health Youth Advisory Board
A list of available Behavioral Health Youth Advisory Board seats can be found at
Sacramento County Boards and Commissions.