We are all familiar with the idea of the U. S. President having a cabinet of advisors. Now, Minneapolis has one as well. The Youth Cabinet is dedicated to the well-being of children, primarily school age.
The Cabinet was conceived two years ago with a City Council resolution establishing it on October 3. The resolution co-authored by Council Members John Quincy and Cam Gordon included data from the American Community Survey that was completed in 2011. The survey revealed over 27 percent of families with children under 18 have incomes below the poverty level and over 32 percent of the children under the age of 18 live below the poverty line.
Also cited in the resolution are two programs that have been successful. Step Up, a summer jobs program for youth ages 14 to 21, trains and recruits low-income youth for jobs. This past summer 1,800 youths were employed through this program and a whopping 18,000 youths have found summer employment since its inception in 2004. Blueprint for Action: Preventing Youth Violence in Minneapolis was implemented in 2006 in response to rising violence among youth. As a result of the Blueprint for Action, Minneapolis has seen a dramatic 56 percent reduction in youth violence between 2006 and 2011.
Although the Youth Cabinet is intended to serve young people throughout Minneapolis, the initiatives that are generated will also benefit Northside youth. The Cabinet is committed to enhancing the quality of life for all Minneapolis youth so that they can live in a safe and healthy environment.
The Cabinet is co-chaired by attorney Susan Segal and Health Commissioner Gretchen Musicant. Utilizing a multi-disciplinary approach, members are selected from several Minneapolis departments: the City Coordinator’s Office; the departments of Health, Police, Civil Rights, Public Works, and Neighborhood and Community Relations; Community Planning and Economic Development; the City Council, and a mayoral appointee.
Inclusion of professionals from each department is an integral component of the Cabinet because they have “touched the lives of youth in the city,” said Quincy. Converging professionals from all areas of the government into a cohesive group will also bring their breadth of knowledge and experience with Minneapolis youth to the forum. The Youth Cabinet, similar to a summit conference, has all the essential elements to make it an exciting and fresh approach for finding solutions that help Minneapolis youth. The fledgling Youth Cabinet has already met for the first time and will continue to meet each month.
Quincy said the meetings will be structured and members will be given their homework with expectations that they will bring back new ideas and solutions to the Cabinet for discussion at the next meetings. This structure, he said, will keep the Youth Cabinet vigorously moving forward generating many creative ideas and initiatives. The Cabinet will report their progress to the City Council.
A new mayor and new city council members will be on board in January. Quincy said he is looking forward to working with them and the initiatives that the Youth Cabinet recommends.
President Franklin Roosevelt once said, “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” Hopefully, the Youth Cabinet initiatives may offer Minneapolis youth the opportunities that will help them build that more positive and productive future in the spirit that Roosevelt envisioned.