Overview
The Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) and the Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA) established the Indiana Youth Advisory Board (IYAB) to assess and promote youth-targeted public health, mental health and suicide prevention initiatives. The IYAB is made up of enthusiastic young leaders between the ages of 14 to 24. The inaugural board was launched in July 2022 and the second consecutive board was inducted in July 2024.
If you are considering working with youth or creating a youth advisory board, this toolkit is for you. The toolkit includes everything we have learned working alongside youth over the past few years and hope this can be beneficial to anyone looking to engage more youth voices.
Conference Presentations
IYAB members speak at conferences to educate about youth experiences, needs, and challenges. So far this term, IYAB has spoken at the Preventing Youth Suicide Initiative Kickoff, Northeast Mental Health Summit, and NAMI Indiana Conference.
Public Health Day at the Statehouse
IYAB member and Butler student, Lucia, joined a panel of public health experts at Public Health Day to speak about the importance of youth voice in public health work. This was one of the highest-attended events held at the Indiana Statehouse in recent years.
All Member In-Person Meeting
In July 2024, IYAB members traveled from all across Indiana to meet the other members of the brand-new board and brainstorm what the members wanted to accomplish during their term. This will continue to be an event held for every incoming board of new members.
