Statewide

The Youth Council is composed of approximately 20 young people between the ages of 15-23 who are currently or formerly involved in the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (CP&P), the Children’s System of Care (CSOC), or the DCF Office of Education (OOE) Regional Schools. The Youth Council works directly with the DCF Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer to enact change within the New Jersey DCF system. Council members serve for a two year term.

The Council meets monthly as a whole and has ongoing subcommittee meetings. The Youth Council meets with Commissioner Beyer on a bimonthly basis to discuss progress on subcommittee projects.

Council members have additional opportunities to participate, such as collaborating with other departments in DCF, providing feedback, offering lived experience perspectives, speaking or presenting at events, and more.

The Youth Council helps to transform DCF practice and programs and empower youth to take action and make decisions on critical issues. Youth Council Members have accomplished real change: they wrote the Sibling Bill of Rights that was signed into law by Governor Murphy; they co-designed the peer mentoring program called EnlightenMENT and they’ve re-designed this NJYRS website, just to name a few. Be a part of the Council and help determine what they do next!

Youth Council Members are compensated for their time, research, and expertise. Currently the council meets monthly from 5-7pm on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. The council has small workgroups called subcommittees that meet on a weekly or bi-weekly basis depending on the workload to create real change across the Department. Council members also have an opportunity to speak at conferences and webinars. Nervous about speaking? Don’t worry! The Office of Family Voice works with every youth council member to prepare them for any speaking engagement. Your voice is important, let’s amplify it! It's always your choice to participate.

Young people between the ages of 15-23 who are currently, or have been, involved with DCP&P (formerly known as DYFS), CSOC (also known as CMO or Perform Care), and/or OOE (DCF Regional Schools), and who want to create change.

Youth Ambassadors speak to current and potential foster parents, as well as at PRIDE trainings, group engagements, to DCF staff, or at community events about personal experiences in the system. They advocate on behalf of current and former foster youth, and address the misconceptions about youth in foster care.

If you are interested in this role, please contact Lee Xenakis, Statewide Recruiter, at lee.xenakis@dcf.nj.gov