Hampton, Virginia:
A Model of Youth Civic Engagement

Hampton, Virginia, population 141,000, has led the way in creating a culture and the mechanisms for promoting meaningful roles for young people in the civic life of the community. Young people, working in partnership with adults, influence policy, decision-making and resource allocation in public and private settings throughout the community. Here are a few examples.

To assure that youth have an ongoing voice in its planning process, the City’s planning department employs two high school students as youth planners. Their jobs are to identify what young people want and need in priority areas that have been selected by young people -- currently, employment, transportation, youth space and community interaction. The mayor’s office, the police department, the school system, public works and other city agencies also routinely engage young people in designing policies and planning projects. The young people who form the city’s Youth Commission are authorized to allocate city funds to neighborhood organizations for youth programs.

In the community, young people and adults work together in several Community Wide Groups to address a particular issue or concern, like the environment, substance abuse or cultural diversity. Neighborhood Groups are made up of young people and adults who have come together to work on projects that will have a positive impact on their particular neighborhood. School Groups consist of student leadership groups in Hampton's middle and high schools who work with each school's administration to help improve the overall learning environment of the school.

"Youth Ambassadors" -- hired by the downtown business district -- greet, inform and entertain visitors and workers, helping the community see young people in a positive light while giving young people important job skills.

These and other pioneering approaches to young people and adults working together for community betterment are promoted and facilitated by Hampton-based Alternatives, Inc. [link to http://www.altinc.org], through project implementation, training, technical assistance, consultation, and advocacy.