The Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (RLC) has joined with sister community, Leadership, Employment, Advocacy and Development (LEAD) to support the Western Mass Youth Council.

The Western Mass Youth Council is a group of young adults between the ages of 16 and 25. We work to improve the mental health system to better support youth in their transition to adulthood. We look at what is currently working, what is not working, and what services are needed. Using the power of our voice, we provide insight to service providers and the community on how to bridge the gap between youth and adult services.

YOUTH COUNCIL FLYER (click to download)

YOUTH COUNCIL APPLICATION (click to download)

How we do this

The Youth Council holds weekly meetings in order to determine upcoming projects and community activism including:

• Speaking out at conferences informing providers of the young adult experience in the mental health system.
• Lending our expert advice on how to improve services to better support the needs of youth in transition.
• Attending meetings with providers contributing our voices and ideas.
• Going out into the community to speak with our peers.
• Writing articles for publication.
• Attending and speaking at legislative events.
• Providing educational materials and information at Mental Health Fairs.

Becoming a leader

In order to enhance our listening and communication skills to emerge as leaders we:.

• Participate in weekly meetings to learn effective ways to communicate our ideas to make a difference.
• Attend trainings in the community.
• Create presentations and workshops and educational materials for the community.