What is Advocacy?

Advocacy is supporting or speaking up for a cause, group, or individual to promote positive change. It involves raising awareness, influencing policies, and ensuring that the rights and needs of those represented are met. Regarding children and youth, advocacy focuses on ensuring they have access to essential services like quality education, healthcare, safe environments, and opportunities for growth.

In North Carolina, effective advocacy for children and youth includes:

1. Understanding Local Needs & Policies: Familiarize yourself with the challenges faced by young people in Mecklenburg County. Stay informed on state policies, legislation, and programs impacting children.

2. Building Relationships with Policymakers: Connect with state legislators, school boards, and local officials. Personal stories, data, and community input can powerfully influence decision-makers to prioritize children's needs.

3. Collaborating with Community Organizations: Partner with child-focused nonprofits, advocacy groups, and service providers in North Carolina. Collective efforts amplify voices and resources.

4. Empowering Youth Voices: Include children and youth in advocacy efforts, giving them platforms to share their experiences and opinions. Their perspectives are crucial in shaping solutions.

5. Public Awareness Campaigns: Use social media, community events, and public forums to educate others and rally community support around key issues affecting children and youth.

By staying informed, building strong partnerships, and elevating young voices, advocates can make a meaningful impact on the well-being and future of our children and youth.

Mecklenburg Advocacy

Mental Health & Behavioral Health Services

Rising rates of mental health, increased suicide completion in youth of color, lack of mental health care access and culturally diverse providers

Juvenile Justice & Court Involvement

Overrepresentation of minority youth, need for juvenile detention center in Mecklenburg County, Support service for Justice involved youth

Affordable & Safe Housing Stability

Affordable housing, Youth homelessness, housing insecurity, challenges for teens aging out of foster care.

Poverty & Economic Inequality

High child poverty rates affecting access to food,

healthcare, economic mobility

Violence & Public Safety

Exposure to gun violence, youth crime involvement, need for

community-based violence prevention programs.

Healthcare Access

Barriers to affordable healthcare, preventive care,

reproductive health

Foster Care

Placement instability, lack of support for aging-out

foster youth, lack of foster parents and therapeutic foster parents, Extended case times for lack of permanency

Access to Quality Education

Disparities in education quality and school conditions, achievement gaps, access to internet, lack of fair teacher and support staff pay

Transportation Access

Limited affordable, reliable transportation restricting

access to school, work, healthcare, and activities.

Family Stability

Single parent families, lack of affordable living, childcare shortage, bias against fathers

Key Issues Impacting Youth
in Mecklenburg County

FEDERAL

STATE

COUNTY / CITY
SCHOOL BOARD

Find my representatives

ADVOCACY AGENDA

Every year we identify issues impacting the youth in Mecklenburg County. We lift up and to work on these issues as a collaborative. In 2025 we will continue to pursue advocacy for Youth Mental Health. Last year we convened a committee and study the big issues impacting Youth Mental Health in the area. We educated our members on issues like rising suicide rates for youth especially our black and brown youth. The low number of diverse providers in all communities. Lack of services. Mental Health stigma from parents and caregivers.

In 2023 it was brought to our attention that when Mecklenburg County closed its Juvenile Detention Center, youth from Mecklenburg were being placed in detention all around the states. This creates many issues including overcrowding at locations, cuts youth off from their support system and ends any county provided services. This is bad for everyone. Youth in detention come back to Mecklenburg County. It is our hope that with proper services and family support they can come back healthier and not reoffend.

We also support the statewide 2025 NC Child Legislative Agenda. We will also make our voices available for other pressing issues as they come up during the year.

In 2025, we will continue our advocacy work in:

Youth Mental Health
The Lack of a Juvenile Detention Facility in Mecklenburg County

Juvenile Detention Collaboration

In 2024 we convened several meetings with top Meck County officials to discuss best ways forward to support our youth being detained. We are proud that two or our agencies stepped up to add programs for Mecklenburg youth in Cabarrus detention center. (The state does its best to house our youth at this location.)