Local Advocacy
While CAYEN as an organization focuses primarily on state level advocacy, we encourage and support TAY across the state to get involved in their local MHSA planning, and mental health advocacy. CAYEN provides several methods for supporting transition age youth in local advocacy which include:
- Providing resources to support local advocates and helping them understand local structures, effective advocacy, and strategies/methods that are successful.
- Connecting interested TAY with their local policy planners, and MHSA coordinators.
- Providing resources for agencies, policy planners, and mental health workers about effective strategies for engaging youth in high level meetings and policy discussions.
- Identifying youth and young adult, supporting individuals, families and organizations that are interested in local mental health issues.
- Promoting cross-agency and cross-county learning through sharing promising practices that TAY say work.
- Providing information to county mental health directors on key policies and programs that benefit transition age youth.
Coming in phase two of our website we are excited to offer a forum for counties and agencies to share information about local TAY advocacy and program events. Check back soon!