This report was published by Communities Building Youth Futures Yukon.

HERE’S HOW THE AUTHORS DESCRIBE THIS REPORT:

Communities Building Youth Futures Yukon is a project between 12 youth serving organizations that prioritizes collaborative efforts between youth-serving organizations and youth. The primary purpose of CBYF is to reduce barriers youth face when transitioning from high school into any career of their choice. CBYF is not a new organization but rather a collaborative project. The project uses a collective impact approach, which is an approach that at its core that seeks to connect and leverage existing support structures and programs to serve youth better. The project is a for-youth-by-youth project. CBYF Yukon hired six youth interns in November 2020 (first year of our project) to conduct peer-to-peer research, as well as to develop and implement projects. Our research goal was to capture the perspective of what is done well in the Yukon in terms of support for youth, and what barriers youth face to a successful transition from high school into the careers they choose. We used a mixed- method approach because we wanted to gain a broad reach (through online surveys), and we also wanted to gain in-depth responses through in-person interviews. The interns broke into three groups, and each group took a different approach to youth engagement. In total, we reached 80 youth (with minimal incentive).

Youth deserve to feel safe and respected, and right now, they feel as though there is a lack of support for safety. This issue was highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic because the youth that had previously been in youth shelters now had less access to these spaces. We hope to see more transitional homes, more opportunities for youth to access affordable housing and guidance for financial hardships. Education has been identified as an essential issue for youth and this project. We heard many mixed experiences from youth. We have found that the school system is failing youth because of lack of mental health support, career exposure, and life skill development issues with other students/staff and issues of discrimination. Without proper support, students will continue to become disengaged with school, extracurriculars, and their school community. Mental Health and Wellness was also consistently communicated as an important issue in the Yukon. Declining mental health rates are impacting the lives of youth in the Yukon even more during COVID-19. Youth have asked for consistent and affordable mental health services for our communities. Youth want to be a part of the processes to fix these issues and create a better territory for all Yukon youth and citizens.