The Youth Commission is a body of 17 youth from San Franciscan between the ages of 12 and 23. Created by the voters under a 1995 amendment to the City Charter, the commission is responsible for advising the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor on policies and laws related to young people. The Youth Commission is also charged with providing comment and recommendation on all proposed laws that would primarily affect youth before the Board takes final action.
The Youth Commission is responsible, under SEC 4.124 of the City Charter, for advising the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor on “the effects of legislative policies, needs, assessments, priorities, programs, and budgets concerning the children and youth of San Francisco.”
The Youth Commission also has the duty to provide the Board and the Mayor with “comment and recommendation” on all proposed laws “that primarily affect the children and youth” of San Francisco.
In particular, the Youth Commission is charged with “identifying the unmet needs” of San Francisco’s children and youth through a variety methods. These include researching existing government and private programs and sources of funding for such programming, holding public forums and cooperating with existing advocacy organizations.
Following the Charter, each year the Youth Commission provides the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor with the following:
-
comments and recommendations on pieces of proposed legislation that would affect San Francisco’s young people;
-
resolutions that formally articulate the Youth Commission’s positions on various youth-related issues; and
-
a set of policy priorities to guide the City’s annual budget process as it relates to young people.
