Vacaville coalition works to identify youth concerns

by Carrie Dettmer
Senior Program Coordinator – REACH,
Vacaville Police Department

The REACH youth coalition in Vacaville meets every Monday at Vacaville City Hall from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Approximately 20 to 25 youth attend each coalition meeting, representing local high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. Adult volunteers from the Vacaville Youth Round Table regularly attend the REACH youth coalition meetings, bringing valuable expertise, insight and support to the REACH youth.

Since the beginning of the new year, REACH youth have worked diligently at identifying major areas of concern for young people in Vacaville by using the REACH coalition meetings to focus on small group discussion. Out of these discussions, the youth determined that the following issues are of high concern: safety on bike trails, gang activity, educational issues including graduation rates and career exploration, discrimination, environmental issues, transportation, lack of leadership opportunities and lack of youth voice in the community.

Using these concerns as a guide, youth and adults worked together to create a 15-question survey to distribute to the youth of the community in order to collect data on their perceptions of the same issues. The survey has been submitted to the Vacaville Unified School District for approval at the next school board meeting in early March. If the survey is approved by the district, it will be distributed at the high schools and middle schools during the lunch hour, at clubs and sports practices and at other school-related activities and events. Other venues also will be used for distribution of the youth survey. An adult survey also is being developed to present to adults in the community for the purpose of comparing their perceptions with those of the youth on the same and/or similar issues.

The Vacaville REACH Coalition is fortunate to have the opportunity to hire four youth interns to assist in the distribution of the surveys. REACH interns will work directly with the REACH coordinator to survey the community, participate in photo mapping of the community, facilitate youth coalition meetings and represent youth coalition members at city council meetings and other community meetings and events.

The Vacaville REACH Coalition is sponsored by the Vacaville Youth Round Table, a network of community leaders who are concerned about youth issues and an organization that has had success in leveraging resources for youth programs and services since it was established in 1991.