The first Youth Commission was approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, officials said. 

The proposal by Supervisor Janice Hahn, co-authored by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, aims to create the county’s first-ever Youth Commission, which would aim to “give young people a voice in reforming policies that govern the foster care and juvenile justice systems,” according to a statement from the supervisors. 

“L.A. County’s most serious responsibility is the one we have to the tens of thousands of children in our care in both our foster care system and our juvenile justice system,” said Hahn. “Our success– and too often our failure– to serve these children can shape their futures.”

The Youth Commission is set to be made up of 15 commissioners, all 18- to 26-year-olds with lived experience in L.A. County’s foster care or probation system.

“If we are going to learn from our mistakes and improve the system for the next generation, we need to engage with the young people who grew up in these systems and know what it takes to make them better,” said Hahn.

The Youth Commissioners are set to have the power to make recommendations about current policies and propose new ones that they believe would better serve the children and young people they are championing, according to County officials. 

“My experiences and our experiences have to be part of the County government,” said Blacc Johnson, an 18-year-old who told his story about being involved with the L.A. County Probation Department as a teen. “There are more than 200 commissions in L.A. County, but none of them require youth representatives. It’s time that we finally have a voice in planning our future.”

This commission would be considered “of the youth, by the youth and for the youth,” being developed and championed by the youth themselves, said County officials.  

The L.A. County Youth Commission was inspired by a group of young people who call themselves the Youth Commission Architects who met in Hahn’s office, and was spearheaded by L.A. County Children and Families Commissioner Tiffany Boyd, according to the press release. 

The Youth Commission is set to be created no later than May 15, 2020. 

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