Under the direction of the City Council on July 14, 2020, staff reviewed information gathered from 12 local cities to determine the best option for establishing a commission or committee that will allow high school aged youth of Garden Grove to be engaged and communicate with the City Council.

After reviewing the information gathered by staff from 12 local cities, staff did not find a Parks and Recreation Commission that included youth commissioners as part of the commission. The couple of cities that have Youth Commissions are comprised of only youth and serve as an advisory board to the City Council. However, the majority of local cities do have Youth Action Committees that are service/volunteer-oriented and also provide the City Council the youth’s perspective on various topics within their local community.  Many of these committees help organize teen-related events and service projects. These action committees range from 5 to 16 members and are considered a program within the Community Services Department, organized and facilitated by staff. Many cities advised that for maximum participation and success a Youth Action Committee was the most effective approach. Therefore, staff is recommending that a Youth Action Committee be considered for implementation.

Currently, the Community Services Department oversees the Garden Grove Community Collaborative (GGCC), which is a formal coalition of partners from multiple community-based organizations. Representatives include, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Garden Grove, Migrant Education, Garden Grove Police Department Liaison Division, Olive Crest, Magnolia Park and Buena Clinton Family Resource Centers. The GGCC is in the process of establishing its yearly goals, and is willing to establish a youth ad hoc committee with the ultimate goal to have a Youth Action Committee. A youth ad hoc committee would create the initial bylaws and processes for this Youth Action Committee, as well as identify needs, recruit youth, and develop goals for the group. The short-term goal of creating a Youth Action Committee is to establish meetings in which groups of teens could share resources, discuss youth issues, and help develop programming for the teens of Garden Grove. The long-term goal is to ultimately have a working group of youth leaders from different areas of the City who would lead the Youth Action Committee with staff guidance. In order to stay connected to the youth, Community Services staff would work with the Committee to provide the City Council with regular updates on topics affecting youth.

The proposed Youth Action Committee could be partially coordinated by volunteers and administered by the Community Services Department. The related hours could be absorbed by the Community Services budget at the present time.  

It is recommended that the City Council:

• Consider implementation of a Youth Action Committee or alternative youth advisory option to be administered by the Community Services Department.