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Long Beach youth advisory council highlights participatory budgeting, mentorship and re-engagement work
Summary
City staff and youth advisory council members presented a four-year update to the Youth and Emerging Adult Strategic Plan, reporting participatory budgeting investments, mentorship programs and an initiative to re-engage opportunity youth; council received the update.
The Long Beach City Council received an update May 13 on the four-year Youth and Emerging Adult Strategic Plan and on the Office of Youth Development's work to implement it.
City staff said the office now has four full-time staff, three youth fellows and two youth interns; funding in fiscal year 2025 combines Measure US dollars, Long Beach Recovery Act funding and a three-year Conrad N. Hilton Foundation grant. "The Office of Youth Development was created to anchor the implementation of the youth strategic plan. The office serves as a convener, funder, and capacity builder," staff said.
Young people from the Youth Advisory Council addressed the council and described projects led by youth. Edrick Salgado, who spoke about his personal experience with homelessness and loss, urged elected officials to treat youth as partners, not just consultees: "Listen to us. Not only just invest in us, but get to know us and understand why we are the way we are. Believe in us because when you invest in youth, you're not just shaping our future. You're shaping the future of Long Beach." Other youth speakers described participatory budgeting projects that awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars to youth-designed programs and a mentorship initiative that pairs city employees with middle-school students.
Staff highlighted results from the Youth Power participatory budgeting cycles: in recent years Measure US funds distributed $1.25 million across 82 nonprofits and 27 funded projects, and in the latest cycle nearly 2,000 votes were cast. Staff also outlined the Futures First initiative to reconnect opportunity youth (young people ages 16 to 24 not in school or work), estimating more than 5,000 such youth in Long Beach and saying the majority are aged 20 to 24.
Council members praised the youth presenters and asked staff to continue strengthening partnerships with Long Beach Transit, schools, Long Beach City College and nonprofit partners. Staff said a public dashboard tracking the plan's 72 activities and status (not started, planning, implementing, completed) is available at the city's youth web pages and will be refined to keep progress visible.
Council moved to receive and file the presentation. The motion carried.
