Ad hoc committee recommends making youth in governance program permanent, requests $5,000 budget

An ad hoc committee overseeing Rock County’s Youth in Governance pilot reported to the county board and recommended converting the year‑long pilot to a standing program with modest ongoing funding.

What the committee recommended: The committee proposed continuing the program on an April‑to‑April schedule so participants can experience a full budget cycle; keeping cohort sizes small (six to 10 participants); restarting recruitment earlier (beginning in November) to reach public, parochial and homeschool students; pairing each student with a board mentor; and establishing an ad hoc oversight committee to manage recruitment and selection. The committee said it would request approximately $5,000 in the county budget to cover orientation, a field trip to the state capital and incidental program costs. County administration included that funding in the administrator’s recommended budget, the committee said.

Why it matters: Committee members told the board the mentorship component and the hands‑on exposure to county government have been valuable to both students and supervisors. The proposed continuation would make the program permanent and create a predictable recruitment and oversight timeline.

Next steps: The committee’s recommendations will be turned into a formal resolution for board consideration; the resolution was filed with the county clerk the same day and could come to the board as early as the next meeting. The report was informational and no final board vote on the program occurred at the session.

Ending: Committee materials included participant and mentor feedback collected during the pilot; supervisors were invited to review the proposal and ask questions before the resolution is scheduled for a vote.