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Youth Health and Well-Being

Disparities in youth health and well-being threaten both the present vitality and long-term sustainability of our regions. Conversely, supporting youth wellness, leadership, and empowerment can be a potent way to protect and enhance communities' collective interests. The Center for Regional Change (CRC) uses applied research to understand and disrupt disparities related to race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and immigration status, along with other factors that hinder the healthy development of children and youth. The center has also been active in training and mentoring young equity advocates and their adult allies to use data to improve these conditions. 

The CRC’s Healthy Youth/ Health Regions was the first study in the nation that applied a holistic analysis of youth health and well-being at a regional scale. It influenced philanthropy throughout the Sacramento region to develop multi-million dollar funding strategies that address disparities in youth well-being across jurisdictional and sectoral boundaries. The CRC’s Putting Youth on the Map data platform and related analyses have promoted public policy strategies on education, criminal justice, and physical and mental health; an accompanying curriculum supported youth and community use of quantitative data maps. These resources were introduced to grassroots youth advocacy networks throughout the region and across the state, including a group called NOPAL (Neighborhoods Owning Power, Action and Leadership). A strand of activity focused on addressing chronic school absenteeism in Sacramento and statewide. The CRC’s Community Futures, Community Lore curriculum supports national leadership in youth-led participatory action research, and facilitates application of these methods to improving youth nutrition, education, juvenile justice, mental health, and civic engagement.

Strengthening Pathways

This documentation was compiled by the UC Davis School of Education (Nancy Erbstein, Associate Professor of Education in Residence, PI) and Center for Regional Change (Brandon Louie, Director of Community Engagement, and Edith Duran, Community Engagement Coordinator) and commissioned by the CalFresh Healthy Living, University of California State Office as part of its Youth Engagement Initiative. Kyle Taniguchi and Katherine Menendez, from the UC Davis Center for Regional Change, provided design and accessibility support for the report.

Youth Career Pathways Toolkit for YPAR

Developing key partnerships to support youth-led participatory action research in CalFresh Healthy Living, University of California Programming

Authored by Alyssa A. Nelson, Brandon Louie, Kelley Brian, and Nancy Erbstein, with Chris Gomez Wong, Rigoberto Ponce, Daisy L. Valdez, Mary Ann Mills, and Kamaljeet Singh-Khaira. 

Growing Capacity

Growing Capacity

This documentation was compiled by the UC Davis Center for Regional Change in collaboration with the UC Davis School of Education (Nancy Erbstein, Associate Professor of Education in Residence, PI; Brandon Louie, CRC Community Engagement Coordinator; Deedee Chao, CRC Student Assistant; and Sarina Rodriguez, CRC Community Engagement Research Specialist) and commissioned by the CalFresh Healthy Living, University of California State Office as part of its Youth Engagement Initiative.

Interactive Story Maps - Youth Health & Well-Being

Interactive Story maps - Youth Health & Well-Being

This Story Map uses newly released chronic absence data from the California Department of Education for the 2016-17 school year to highlight schools, counties, and regions that are doing well and those that need additional support, so all students have an equal opportunity to learn. These maps illustrate the findings of a deeper analysis of the statewide chronic absence data released by the California Department of Education in 2017, via DataQuest. 

Building Together

Building Together Developing key partnerships to support youth-led participatory action research in CalFresh Healthy Living, University of California Programming. 

Authored by Brandon Louie, Nancy Xiong, Nancy Erbstein, Miranda Capriotti, Eli Figueroa, Cristina Luquin, Carmela Padilla, Guadalupe Ramirez, Emma Sandoval, Paul Tabarez, and Chris Gomez Wong, with Chutima Ganthavorn, Charles Go, Katie Johnson, Marisa Neelon, and Kamaljeet Singh-Khaira.