YMCA Youth and Government, or Y&G (also known as YMCA Youth in Government) is a YMCA civic engagement and service-learning program in the United States that offers high school students the opportunity to serve in a model government process at the local, state, national, and international levels. The Youth and Government program was established in 1936 in New York by Clement “Pete” Duran, then the Boys Work Secretary of the Albany YMCA. As of 2010, the program currently operates in 37 states and the District of Columbia, serving nearly 60,000 high school students around the country. The motto of the program is “Democracy must be learned by each generation.”
A similar program is in place for those in middle school Model United Nations or M.U.N. Some state Youth and Government programs offer this program to middle school students interested in international relations through state Model United Nations (MUN) programs that allow delegates to serve in organizations such as the General Assembly, Security Council, and International Courts
Most of the 38 Youth and Government Programs are built around an annual Model Youth Legislature composed of high school Youth Senators and Representatives that meet in the legislative chambers of the state capitol to debate bills written and sponsored by the students during the program year. Most state programs have expanded the youth legislature into a full-scale 3-5 day State Assembly or Conference, operating a complete model government that offers student delegates the opportunity to serve as members of the Executive Branch, Judicial Branch, Press Corps & Media, and Lobbyist Firms and many other program areas. In addition to programming offered to high school students, several Youth and Government programs have established similar types of programming for middle school students by running additional Youth Legislatures/MUN Conferences and State Assemblies, incorporating middle school delegates and events into existing high school programming, or in some cases doing both.
There is no “National” Youth and Government program or organization due to the local and state-based structure and affiliations of most YMCA programs, but there are 2 national events attended by most of state Youth and Government programs: The annual YMCA Youth Governor’s Conference in Washington, D.C., held in June, and the annual YMCA Youth Conference on National Affairs, or CONA, held the first week in July. The Youth Governor’s Conference, established in 1949, serves as a weeklong national servant leadership training session for all students elected to serve as Governor (or in some cases Chief Justice or Secretary General) of their respective state programs. The YMCA Youth Conference on National Affairs (CONA), established in 1968 under the leadership of the Alabama Youth In Government program, is held every July in Black Mountain, North Carolina at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly. CONA brings together nearly 600 delegates selected as members of 25-30 person delegations from most of the state Y&G programs. Each delegate authors and sponsors a proposal on national and international policy issues, and the proposals are debated during the conference through a 5-stage committee process.
Youth and Government (24)
Youth In Government (14)
States without Y&G/YIG (13)
The California YMCA Youth & Government (Y&G) organization sponsors statewide educational programs for high school students. Its Model Legislature & Court (ML/C) involves more than 2,400 high school students, in a nine-month "hands on," learn-by-doing experience. Since its inception more than 60 years ago, the program has used a variety of activities to build, encourage, and strengthen the character traits that will help high school youth become involved, responsible adults who are respected citizens. The tool used is a high quality experiential and educational simulation based upon California's State government. The program is very comprehensive, and its impact on the youth participants is dramatic.
The Model Legislature & Court teaches the values of democracy by creating citizen leaders from a cross section of the state's high school population, providing them with the opportunity to experience government first-hand and to learn how to solve community problems by working together through the democratic process. The program also helps develop within these youth an attitude of self reliance and self confidence which is valuable for their personal futures.
Delegates can chose to be Legislators, Justices, Lawyers, Lobbyists, Commissioners, Board Members and Reporters just to name a few.
The program begins in September when more than 2,000 young people and 300 volunteers at approximately 90 locations throughout the State, meet as individual delegations to discuss issues facing California, as well as ways to implement their solutions through the legislative and judicial processes. During the coming months, the delegates write bills, prepare briefs, select governmental positions to role play, attend statewide training conferences, and run for various elected offices. The program reaches its peak in Sacramento at the State Capitol with the convening of the five-day Model Legislature & Court each February. There, "real" government moves over and the teenage delegates "take over," using the historic halls, chambers and offices of our State Capitol, Supreme Court, and Governor's Office, as well as several other civic and public buildings.
California YMCA Youth & Government operates as an independently chartered YMCA. A Board of Directors is responsible for determining policy and directional emphasis of the program. Participation is by YMCA youth delegations being sponsored through local community YMCAs.
California Youth & Government Website: http://calymca.org/
The Colorado YMCA Youth in Government had its first session in 1948. As of 2009, more than 16,720 students have participated in the program. Each year, there is a General Assembly in the Colorado State Capitol in Denver that takes place over three days in November. Participants generally attend general training sessions prior to the General Assembly. The program consists of a model bicameral legislature, a Supreme Court, and a press. Officer positions include Governor, Lieutenant Governor, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House, Attorney General, Chief Justice, and Editor-in-Chief.
The Michigan YMCA Youth in Government had its first session in 1954. On average, 1,600 students attend the conference. Each year, there is a General Assembly in the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing that takes place over four days in April. Like other programs, it consists of a model bicameral legislature, a Supreme Court, and a press. Officer positions include Governor, Lieutenant Governor, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House, Attorney General, Chief Justice, and Editor-in-Chief. As of the past few years, a numerous amount of drug useage has come out of the Michigan Youth in Government Spring conference. The YMCA has now taken a much stronger stance against drug use in the Youth in Government program.
The Florida YMCA Youth In Government program, founded in 1957, has recently grown to include not only a Sr. Youth In Government program (referred to as YIG) targeted at high school students but also a Jr. Youth In Government program (referred to as JYIG) for middle school students. While JYIG is currently only a mock legislature, high school delegates have the opportunity to participate in one of five program areas: a Legislative Program [split into first year (Bowen House and Senate), second year (Sullivan House of Representatives), and third year (Williams Senate) chambers], a Judicial Program (Split into District and Supreme Court), a Press Corps, a Lobbyist Program, and an elected Executive Cabinet. Split into four districts geographically, chapters are organized into Delegations by their YMCA affiliation. Events throughout the year include a summer leadership conference hosted by the State Presiding Officer Corps, Fall District Conferences hosted by each district Pre-Assembly, Winter and Spring Service Rallies held by the State Office, and State Assembly held in the Florida State Capitol buildings.
Students involved in the Sr. Youth in Government program refer to the RedBook[2] for information such as parliamentary procedure and formatting, as well as the program's history and requirements for Presiding Officer Positions. For Jr. Youth in Government, delegates make use of the GreenBook[3] which is formatted like a workbook to guide them through the process of writing their legislation for Junior Assembly.
At State Assembly, 13 delegates are either elected or appointed into Presiding Officer positions and serve throughout the year with the State Office to support and advance the program. These positions include Youth Governor, Lt. Governor, Commissioner of Agriculture, Chief Financial Officer, Attorney General, Chief Justice, Two Senior Justices, Williams Senate President, Williams Speaker of the House, Sullivan Senate President, Sullivan Speaker of the House, and Editor in Chief. A variety of Supporting Officers are also chosen about a month before State Assembly and go through training and preparation at the PO/SO retreat in January. Delegates chosen through an application process are announced at State Assembly and placed on the Florida Delegation to attend The Conference on National Affairs.
At the 2010 Florida Youth In Government convention, two delegates, Alvin Wang and Connor Harrison, successfully conducted the first override a governor's veto in 53 years of Florida YIG history, a groundbreaking achievement in the Legislature. The two gentlemen were recognized by then governor Patrick Kennedy and received a round of applause from the rest of the delegates. [4]
Illinois is one of the nine YMCAs in the country with statewide charters (PA,[5] NY, OH-WV, MI, KY, GA, VA, CA). Illinois Y&G started in 1949 and includes a mock legislature, model court, lobbyist program and a press corps of newspaper and video staff. The program includes 1000 students from the Land of Lincoln who participate in 2 pre-legislative sessions in the Fall for training and a 3 day conference in Springfield every March. Students in the Legislature have the opportunity to debate their bills in the Illinois House and Senate chambers, and students in the judicial program argue appellate cases in the chambers of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Kentucky's Youth In Government program is the largest, with approximately 7000 participants attending annual conferences: an East and West Senior Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) and an East and West Senior Kentucky United Nations Assembly (KUNA) for high-schoolers; the East, West, and Central Junior KYAs and two Junior KUNAs for middle-schoolers; and several "non-debatable" conferences: Junior and Senior Leadership Training Conference (LTC) and the Junior and Senior "Go-For-It!" conference.
The Mission of the YMCA Louisiana Youth & Government program is two-fold:to encourage and foster leadership through service, fellowship, responsibility, and respect for oneself and others among all participants and to educate and engage students in the process of government, from local to international, so that they become more active participants in their communities. Louisiana Youth & Government supports more than 60 high school clubs and two conferences annually: Model United Nations and Youth Legislature. Model United Nations provides participants with an opportunity to gain insight into global relations through a challenging and constructive three-day program. The focus of this conference is to provide student participants with the experience of representing a country's viewpoint on global issues and engaging in resolutions through compromise and cooperation. Participants select a country to represent and are assigned to one of the following councils: General Assembly, Economic & Social Council, Security Council, International Court of Justices or Press. Students also gain exposure to parliamentary procedure and debate as well as resolution writing. Youth Legislature provides participants with an opportunity to gain insight local and state policy and politics. The focus of this conference is to provide student participants with the experience of being a part of a functioning state government, from bill passage to policy advising. Participants are assigned to one of the following programs: Governor’s Cabinet, Lt. Governor’s Cabinet, Senate, House of Representatives, Policy Development Team, Supreme Court or Press. Positions of aides, couriers and liaisons are also available for student participation in this two-day program. Students also gain exposure to parliamentary procedure and debate at the Louisiana State capitol building. The Louisiana Youth & Government program also participates in the annual YMCA Conference on National Affairs (CONA) held at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
The Mississippi Youth & Government program annually serves approximately 1000 participants each year with leadership development opportunities through a series of annual conferences: The Youth Legislature Conference (Youth Leg.), a model state government program for Senior High School students; The Junior Youth Assembly Conference (JYA), a model state government conference for middle school students; the Model United Nations Conference (MUN), a model global government conference for students in both middle school and high school; and the Summer Leadership Experience, a leadership development conference for senior high school students. The Mississippi Youth & Government program also participates in the annual YMCA Conference on National Affairs (CONA) held at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
Tennessee's Youth in Government program is the second largest in the nation, with approximately 3500 participating in Youth In Government conferences and Model United Nations conferences conducted by the YMCA Center for Civic Engagement in Nashville. Youth in Government is an annual conference designed to offer high school and middle school students a hands-on experience with state government. Each year, students from across the state converge on the State Capitol, taking the places of real government officials. Program participants can serve as senators or representatives, Supreme Court justices, lawyers, department commissioners, lobbyists, or press corps members. Each fall, the YMCA Center for Civic Engagement in Nashville also sponsors a Model United Nations conference. Most students form delegations and represent member countries' interests in the General Assembly by drafting and debating resolutions. Other students have the opportunity to represent their countries on the Security Council, and to participate in a model International Court of Justice.
The Minnesota Youth In Government program (notice the variation from the alternative "Youth AND Government") consists of both a Model Assembly (representing the State Legislative system) and a Model United Nations. The Model Assembly is run each January at the Minnesota State Capitol building in Saint Paul. At this program, nearly 1500 students from around the state (including such outlying areas as Brainerd and Albert Lea) gather to debate issues conceived and written upon by themselves. In addition to the main Legislative program, the Minnesota YMCA YIG program also has three full Judicial systems - a Trial Court, an Appeals Court, and a mock Supreme Court - and various other smaller groups such as Lobbyist teams, staff for both the Youth Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and four media teams (radio, television, and morning and evening newspapers.) The Model United Nations program takes place in Mid-March and brings together approximately 500 youth to represent countries from around the world and debate issues of international importance. Training sessions for delegates as well as elected and appointed officials are held throughout the year.
The first state to organize a Youth and Government program was New York. New York's program is held in the capitol building each year. The New York State Youth and Government program includes an executive branch with a governor, lieutenant governor, and a cabinet. The legislative branch includes a Senate and an Assembly. The judicial branch consists of a chief justice, associate justices, and many attorneys. The New York program also has a lobbyist and press program. Recently added to New York's YMCA program is a Teddy Roosevelt House where younger members gain valuable experience and learn how each branch and program works during the state conference.[6]
The Missouri Youth in Government program (where students are affectionately known as 'YIGsters') brings over 700 Missouri youth to Jefferson City, Missouri, each year. Recently, the Missouri program has split to form two conventions, one in late November and the other in early December, to accommodate the growing program. MOYIG consists of legislative, judicial, and executive branches, and students are able to hold offices such as speaker of the House, committee chair, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and chief justice or justice of the Supreme Court. Print press and video news programs work to make a media coverage system at the conventions. Missouri's Youth in Government also holds a program called the Executive Branch Leadership Institute (EBLI) every spring, in which 30-40 students travel to Jefferson City to shadow a state department for two days. At the department they are presented with a current issue or problem in Missouri and, on the last day of the program, must present their opinions and creative solutions to a panel of judges. Scholarship awards are given at EBLI for the best teams and the best individual presenters.
North Carolina has hosted an annual 4-day Youth Legislator in downtown Raleigh since 1993. The conference takes place during the second weekend of February and is based mainly in Raleigh's Sheraton hotel. The conference includes Legislative, Judicial, Lobbyist, and Press programs. There were about 1500 students at the 2010 conference. Every year North Carolina sends 25 students to the Conference on National Affairs in Black Mountain, North Carolina.[7] The 2011 Conference was led by Governor Kyle Leopard, First Lady Sarah Martin, Lt. Governor Sean Donohue, Chief Justice Conner Dalton, Speakers of the House Fields Pierce and Jordan Naber, President Pro Tempores Will Holland and Steven Ganshaw, and Speaker Pro Tempores Amanda Albright and Rishi Simha. Among the 2012 officers are Governor Fields Pierce, First Lady Chelsea Crowley, Lt. Governor Will Holland, Chief Justice Chelsea Rosenberg, Press Editor Zach Elliot,and Presiding Officers, Nora Standish, Zack Parker, Virgil Leung, Maggie Sowisdral, Catherine Ohayon, and Kshipra Hemal.
South Carolina's Youth in Government program began in 1988 and has grown to include over 1,200 high school participants. A few years ago, South Carolina began a Middle School Mock Legislature and that program has about 300 participants. The annual 4-day conference is held during the third week of November in the state's capitol, Columbia. The conference includes legislative, judicial, and press programs. There is an executive branch of the program consisting of a Governor and Lt. Governor. The legislative branch includes Upper House/Senate Chambers as well as Premier House/Senate Chambers (for first time participants). The judicial branch of the program includes a Chief Justice, Associate Justices, an Attorney General, and many attorneys. The press program produces a daily newspaper and has an Editor-in-Chief. The 2011 elected officials are: Governor Asheeka Desai, Lt. Governor Sarina Dodhia, Speaker of the House Alan Lee, Secretary of State Abhi Pandya, and Attorney General Chandler Carpenter. John Waelde will serve as the 2011 Chief Justice. Every year, South Carolina sends between 15 and 25 delegates to the Conference on National Affairs (CONA), held at the Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Besides these two conferences, the South Carolina YIG program holds a middle school Model United Nations conference every April, a Horizons Values Conference every May, and a Leadership Conference at Pawleys Island every September.
Washington State's Youth and Government program has over 1,000 student participants annually, with about 500 in the separate Youth Legislature and mock trial programs. Throughout the year, Youth Legislature participants learn how to research public policy issues, write real legislation, and practice public speaking and debating skills. Assuming the roles of Senator, Representative, lobbyist, and press, the legislature meets in a 4-day legislative session at the state capitol presided over by their statewide elected officials, including governor, secretary of State, lieutenant governor and speaker of the state House. The YMCA Mock Trial program allows students to participate in a "true-to-life" courtroom drama. Each team of attorneys and witnesses prepares the case for trial before a real judge in an actual courtroom. A "jury" of attorneys rates teams for their presentation while the presiding judge rules on the motions, objections, and ultimately the merits. Participants develop critical thinking and analytical skills, learn the art of oral advocacy, and gain a respect for the role of law and the judiciary. The district winning teams compete for the State Championship in Olympia in March.[8]
The Oklahoma Youth and Government program consists of a two-house Legislature, a criminal and appellate Judicial Section, video and print News Media, and a Youth Commission. Each year, the Oklahoma program has two delegate training sessions (typically in September/October) and two District Conferences (typically in November). The State Conference is a three day event that begins with a dinner and keynote speaker on Thursday Night, continues with a full day at the Oklahoma State Capitol on Friday followed by an evening of fellowship activities, and ends with a half day at the Capitol and closing banquet on Saturday. The 2011 Oklahoma State Conference was originally scheduled for early February 2011, but had to be postponed to March 2011 due to record snowfall.