Youth Advisory Committee

APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2023/2024 SCHOOL YEAR ARE NOW CLOSED. We take applications every year in August. Applications are due by August 31.

The Utah Attorney General’s Youth Advisory Committee gives an opportunity to students to make the State of Utah a better place by providing advice to the Attorney General’s Office on events, programs, and policies that affect teens.

The Committee meets twice a month to tackle issues that are important to the State of Utah.

2022/2023 School Year Overview

One of my favorite parts of being in the Attorney General’s Youth Advisory Committee is being able to see the different perspectives of Utah residents.

My favorite guest speaker was Agent Snow, where he showed us the cultural sensitivities and vulnerabilities of many youth in Utah’s more dangerous or misunderstood cities. It shined a light on the tough situations many children are put in, which leads them to follow down certain paths.

The Attorney General’s Youth Advisory Committee gave me and the other members opportunities to help these families while also gaining firsthand experience in related fields. For example, we were able to participate in Operation Give Back! During the holiday season we surprised families with gifts and toys. This highlighted the economic distress many people experienced, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. It felt great participating in something that could help aid these families while also spreading Christmas joy.

Further, we were given the chance to see some police officer training through the VirTra simulator! It helped us gain an understanding of the police force and how they’re taught to do their jobs with the help of modern technology.

Overall, the Attorney General’s Youth Advisory Committee has provided me and many like minded youth the chance to not only work towards policy change but help the people through deepening our understanding of Utah’s diverse communities.

Author, Jenna – Skyline High.

Projects

Operation Give Back: Assisting law enforcement in finding needy families during the holiday season. Youth join the Utah Attorney General’s Investigators and other law enforcement to identify families who could use extra help around the holiday season. They are dispatched to different stores in areas with a lower socioeconomic status to look for potential gift recipients. Throughout the morning, they radio law enforcement the car model and license plate of their chosen recipients to allow law enforcement to pull over families and present them with gifts. They may also have the opportunity to ride along with law enforcement to give away the gifts. Each year families are deeply grateful, and it is one of the more memorable service opportunities.

SafeUT App: Providing feedback on improvements to the app and teen use. The SafeUT App is a free app that connects students, educators, and parents in crisis situations across Utah with licensed crisis counselors. The app also allows students to submit tips about unsafe situations at school. This app was created by adults, and the teens had lots of suggestions on how to make it more applicable and appealing to teenagers. In previous years, they have reviewed the design, features, format, chat and tip functions, and outreach of the app and have identified concrete and in-depth suggestions. The Youth Advisory continues to provide feedback and work to ensure all teens have access to this life-saving tool.

In 2021, the Youth Advisory heard from Deondra Brown and her very personal story about child abuse. As young people, it can be a very difficult time to open up to friends or allow others to help. She made such an impact on those who heard her story, and the teens were able to gain a whole new perspective on the reality of abuse.

In past years, the teens have advised the statewide Children’s Justice Center Program on how to make centers more teen-friendly. The youth met with the statewide CJC Services Specialist, who showed them photos of the waiting rooms, exam rooms, and interview rooms at various Children’s Justice Centers throughout the state. The teens were able to give feedback on how to make the centers more welcoming for their peers who have been abused, as well as suggestions on how to communicate more effectively with teenagers. These ideas are being implemented at centers across the state.

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L.E.T.S. Stay Safe: Utah’s Firearms Safety & Violence Prevention Program. This program and curriculum went live in the 2019-2020 school year. The Attorney General’s Youth Advisory Committee was involved in the entire process, including early brainstorming meetings, curriculum design, and logo scheme. They helped the developers understand social media, different ways of learning, and Utah teen culture. They were also involved in the making of the instructional firearm safety film and are featured throughout the video.

How to Get Involved

Interested in helping out? We would love to have teenagers from all over Utah apply!

Requirements:

Be 13-18 years old and be in middle or high school, whether public, private, charter, or home school.
Be a resident of Utah.
Have an interest in making the State of Utah a better place by providing advice to the Attorney General’s Office on events, programs, and policies that affect teens.

Meetings are held twice a month on Wednesdays, starting at 4:30 PM. For rural members, meetings can be accessed through virtual video conferences.

Applications for the next school year open over the summer and are due August 31, 2023.

Before you apply, please read through the Charter, Rules, and Governance of the Utah Attorney General’s Youth Advisory Committee.

APPLICATION FORM

Questions? Please email Rebecca Lee at rebeccalee@agutah.gov.

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