Attorney General’s Office Youth Advisory Committee

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS! More information can be found at the bottom of this page. Applications are due September 15, 2019.

The Utah Attorney General’s Youth Advisory Committee gives an opportunity to teenaged 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 every two weeks to tackle issues that are important to the State of Utah.

Achievements

Achievements for the 2018-2019 Youth Advisory Committee Members include:

Assisting law enforcement in finding needy families and giving out gifts during Operation Give Back. The teenagers joined with the Utah Attorney General’s Investigators and other law enforcement to identify families who could use extra help around the holiday season. They were dispatched to different stores in areas with a lower socioeconomic status to look for potential gift recipients. They then radioed to the law enforcement the car model and license plate of the recipients so that law enforcement could pull the family over and present them with the gift. The teens were also able to ride along with law enforcement to give away the gifts. Each family was deeply grateful.

Reviewing the SafeUT App in-depth to provide feedback to the developers. 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. They reviewed the design, features, format, chat and tip functions, and outreach of the app and came up with pages of concrete and in-depth suggestions to improve the app. These suggestions were given to the app developers, who said it was better than Christmas. The suggestions were adopted and put into place, resulting in a better app for all.

Advising the statewide Children’s Justice Centers Program on how to make centers more teen-friendly. The teens 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.

Helping Utah develop a Utah Gun Safety Program, Video, and Curriculum that will be made available to all Utah students. This program and curriculum is going 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 Gun Safety film and can be seen at multiple times throughout the video.

Problem-solving with the SafeUT App Project managers, including how to resolve the issue of students misusing the app to bully others. The Youth Advisory Committee has a great relationship with the SafeUT Commission and the SafeUT App Project managers, who feel comfortable bringing issues to the teens for their unique problem-solving skills. The teens have met with SafeUT personnel multiple times and have provided solutions to problems that affect Utah teens.

How to Get Involved

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

Requirements:

• Be 13-18 years old and be in middle or high school, whether public, private, charter, or home school.
• Maintain a 1.5 GPA.
• 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 currently held every other Monday at 4:30 PM, although this may change depending on the schedules of the members.

Our office accepts applications at the start of each school year. Applications are due September 15.

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

Application forms can be found here.

Questions? The adult advisor, Katherine Rhodes, can be reached at krhodes@agutah.gov.