In 2025, the Youth Advisory Council (YAC), housed within the University of Oregon’s Center for Childhood Safety and Wellbeing (CSAW), experienced a year of significant growth, focus, and impact. With YAC member’s help the center hired a dedicated Youth Engagement Coordinator (YEC) in March 2025. The YAC was able to expand its capacity for relationship-building, community engagement, and intentional recruitment— marking a turning point in the Council’s development as a youth-led driver of violence prevention and systems change.
Throughout the year, the YAC engaged 10 active youth members, including the onboarding of 5 new members from rural Lane County, strengthening geographic equity and access to leadership opportunities. Youth met consistently and participated in more than 8 formal feedback opportunities with community and systems partners, including the Lane County Violence Prevention Coalition (LCVPC), CSAW’s Training Academy, Voices of Change for Child Safety (VOICES), Parent Community Cafe (PCC), and the Oregon Child Abuse Prevelance Study (OCAPS) . These feedback loops ensured that youth perspectives informed program design, training approaches, and prevention strategies across sectors.
Guided by the Prevention Education and Advocacy for Childhood Empowerment (PEACE) Report, the YAC honed its work around a focused initiative exploring the intersection of mental health, substance use disorder, and child maltreatment prevention. Youth engaged with more than 8 community organizations and experts, deepening their understanding of trauma-informed care, harm reduction, survivor mental health, and available behavioral health resources. This learning translated into youth-led conversations, community education, and creative advocacy, including a youth-produced video featured at the Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA) national conference, amplifying Lane County youth voices on a national stage.
The YAC also maintained a strong commitment to belonging, joy, and care. Members participated in multiple in-person gatherings and community events including Take Back the Night, 4J Pride, Radical Alternative Development’s (RAD) Annual Mental Health Benefit Concert, the Oregon School-Based Health Alliance JOY conference, and two in-person celebrations centered on relationship-building and reflection. As the year concluded, the YAC launched planning for a new initiative focused on housing security as violence prevention, while setting tangible goals for 2026 that include expanded feedback roles, continued recruitment, social media launch, and deeper coalition engagement with other community youth councils.
In 2025, the Youth Advisory Council demonstrated that when youth are trusted, resourced, and supported, they move beyond advisory roles to become collaborators, educators, and leaders shaping prevention systems. This year represents both a culmination of learning and a foundation for future impact.
Read the full 2025 Year in Review (English)!
