Young Kansans 4 Action

The KS BOS COC Youth Action Board (YAB), Young Kansans 4 Action (YK4A) was initially created in April of 2023 with the intention of putting the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition’s (KSHC) newly formed DEI statement into practice, giving young people in the state of Kansas with lived experience of housing instability a voice within our BOS COC governance charter and the ability to speak on and implement changes in policies and procedures related to homelessness.

Recruitment for YAB members started by sending out flyers to Kansas school district counselors, social workers, and McKinney Vento liaisons, and DCF Independent Living coordinators, as well as promoting the initiative during the TAY Homeless Prevention Seminar Series. After starting with a single member from the southeast region in April of 2023, we now have members from the Douglas County region and the Southcentral region and are rigorously recruiting members from the other regions of the BOS COC as well. Since the creation of the BOS COC YK4A YAB, KSHC has now created a Statewide Executive Council (SEC) YAB, comprised of the most active 2-3 members from our BOS COC YK4A YAB, the Wichita COC YAB, the Youth 4 Change YAB out of the Johnson/Wyandotte County COC, and hope to include members from the Shawnee County YAB after it’s creation.

The collaboration between the YK4A YAB and other state COCs will help to create and implement a statewide unified plan to end youth and young adult homelessness in Kansas.

Youth Voices Survey!

Please read through the entirety of the following instructions before clicking the survey button at the bottom.

Instructions for Completing the Youth Voices Survey

Purpose: This survey is designed so youth can express their opinions and ideas on needed housing and homeless services in their communities. Your responses are important and will help us make decisions moving forward on the types of youth services that are needed to address and prevent homelessness.

Confidentiality: All answers will be kept completely anonymous other than contact information for the raffle, and your responses will only be used for compiled data assessment of youth needs in general.

Estimated Time: Completing the survey should take approximately 10 minutes if not less.

Questions:

The survey consists of a series of questions regarding your experiences with housing insecurity and homelessness.
Some questions are multiple-choice, while others may require written responses.
Please answer each question honestly and to the best of your ability. More information in the added explanations are helpful.

Navigation:

Use the Next and Previous buttons to move through the survey.
If you need to exit, your progress may not be saved, so try to complete the survey in one sitting.

Submission: Once you’ve completed the survey, click the Submit button at the end.

Contact: If you have any questions or experience technical issues, please contact Alicia Flint at aflint@kshomeless.com.

All participants can only complete the survey one time per person. Following the survey ending, your submission will add you to the raffle to be drawn on Monday, February 3rd, 2025.

Prizes to be won include: 9 Amazon gift cards of $50 each, and one grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card and one $25 gift card to American Eagle.

Click Here to Complete Youth Voices Survey

Activities and Projects

Since inception in 2023 and throughout 2024, YK4A members have been active participants throughout the entire CoC, attending Steering Committee Meetings and our Monthly Youth Action Board Meetings to ensure that youth and young adult voices are heard. In addition to monthly meeting engagement, our YAB members utilized their crucial lived experiences to expertly craft a session presented at the 2024 Summit on Homelessness and Housing. The session was geared towards helping other agencies work with youth and young adults by increasing awareness of Adultism.

Not only have the members advocated within our Continuum of Care (CoC), but they have also been committed to reaching our State Representatives. Our Youth Action Board (YAB) members have been actively advocating for youth voices to be heard by engaging in activities such as the 2024 Capitol Hill Day in Topeka, Kansas and the 2024 NN4Y Capital Hill Day in Washington D.C. where members spoke directly to representatives about youth and young adult housing needs in Kansas, demonstrating advocacy in action while cultivating a space for professional development.

In 2024, our YAB members also contributed their expertise to a statewide initiative and grant application, the Youth Homelessness Service Improvement (YHSI) Grant. If awarded, the grant will heavily rely on YAB members’ experience to create systemic change throughout youth service delivery in Kansas.

What we’re up to

Currently the YK4A YAB is working on developing policies and procedures for the YAB itself to govern the structure of the YAB as well as expectations and recruitment of future YAB members. Our hope for the future is to be awarded the YHSI grant to host a statewide youth services event, implement systems mapping to better understand gaps in services and create a CE assessment specific for youth and young adults.

From there we would like to apply for the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) grant to fund more housing programs for youth in our state. We have some big goals in mind, but we are extremely proud of the work that the YAB has put in thus far and can’t wait to see all of the amazing contributions to ending youth and young adult homelessness for our state in the future!

KSHC is excited to partner with Champions4Teens on the Balance of State CoC Youth Needs Assessment. From November 6th, 2024 to January 17th, 2025, we will gather vital data to identify service gaps in essential programming for youth (ages 16-24) experiencing homelessness. This assessment collects qualitative data from two youth focus groups, two youth service provider focus group, and a virtual Youth Voices Survey link to collect quantitative data. The data collection timeline is as follows.

November 6th, 2024 @ 6PM- 1^st Youth Focus Group (ages 16-24)
November 18th, 2024 @ 3PM- Service Provider Focus Group
December 4th, 2024 @ 6PM- 2nd Youth Focus Group (ages 16-24)
December 6th, 2024 @ 9AM 2nd Service Provider Focus Group
January 6th – January 17th- Youth Voices Survey active online

Once data collection is complete, Champions4Teens will analyze and compile findings into a comprehensive report to shape future initiatives for homeless youth within the Balance of State CoC. This data will also support upcoming grant applications, including the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP). If awarded, these funds will be directed toward enhancing existing programs and launching new services for youth experiencing homelessness.

If you are a youth service provider that would like to be involved in the distribution of the Youth Voices Survey link to your clients or if you are a youth (ages 16-24) with lived experience of homelessness and are interested in taking the survey, please contact:

Alicia Flint at AFlint@kshomeless.com for further details.

Join our YK4A Action Board!

We’re looking for passionate and driven young individuals to make a difference in our community. Your voice matters, and by joining, you can help shape the future of our programs and services. Click the link to the right to learn more and get involved today!

Inquire here!