Why Youth Advisory Boards Fail (and How to Fix Them)
Why Most Youth Advisory Boards Fail (and How to Fix Them)
For many systems, youth voice is something to be collected.
For youth, it is something to be lived.
By the age of 20, I had already partnered with multiple child welfare agencies, Job and Family Services offices, and youth-serving organizations. I participated in focus groups, advisory sessions, and feedback panels intended to improve foster care and related systems.
I appreciated being invited. I believed in the work.
What I rarely saw was follow-up.
Youth shared deeply personal experiences, named systemic gaps, and offered thoughtful insight, yet meaningful change was often absent. Decisions were made behind closed doors. Youth were thanked, but not brought back into the process. Voice existed without accountability.
Over time, it became clear:
Youth voice was being heard, but not acted on.
Building a Different Kind of Youth Advisory Board
When I was later given the opportunity to create and lead my own state-funded Youth Advisory Board, it meant more to me than a program or a grant. It was a chance to build what I had never experienced myself.
A Youth Advisory Board rooted in action, not optics.
In trust, not control.
In leadership, not performance.
From the beginning, we made intentional choices about how youth engagement would look and feel.
We did not give youth scripts, we gave them tools.
We did not prioritize polish, we built roots.
We did not confine youth voice, we offered a compass.
Youth leaders were supported holistically and engaged at a pace that honored their lived experiences, capacity, and autonomy. Opportunities were brought directly to youth across a wide range of child welfare issues, both in person and virtually, ensuring accessibility, inclusion, and choice.
Most importantly, youth felt safe.
Safe to challenge systems.
Safe to name what wasn’t working.
Safe to call out gaps and failures without fear of being dismissed or managed.
That trust led to meaningful engagement, sustained participation, and real impact.
Why Most Youth Advisory Boards Fail
Based on lived experience and years of implementation, most Youth Advisory Boards fail for the same core reasons:
They prioritize adult comfort over youth power
Youth are invited to speak—but not to influence. When youth voice challenges narratives, funding priorities, or institutional control, it is often softened, redirected, or ignored.
2. There is no accountability or follow-through
Youth provide input without ever seeing outcomes. When feedback disappears into reports instead of action, trust erodes.
3. Youth are trained to perform, not to lead
Boards often emphasize professionalism over critical thinking, teaching youth how to sound acceptable rather than how to challenge systems.
4. Engagement is extractive
Youth are asked to share their trauma without adequate support, compensation, or care. Emotional labor is expected, while well-being is optional.
5. The pace is rigid and unrealistic
Many boards move faster than trust can be built, ignoring the realities of youth impacted by foster care, instability, and systemic harm.
What Actually Works
Youth Advisory Boards succeed when youth are treated as partners, not props.
When their voices are tied to decision-making.
When feedback loops are closed.
When leadership development is prioritized over appearances.
When trust is built through consistency, transparency, and follow-through.
Youth do not disengage because they lack interest.
They disengage because they learn their voices do not lead to change.
When youth voice is trusted, supported, and followed by action, Youth Advisory Boards do more than engage young people—they help transform systems.
That is the work we do.
