Youth Service Bureau Day in Hartford, CT

By Echo Margary, 2027

Published 5/1/2024

April 24, 2024, was the capital's annual Youth Service Bureau (YSB) Day. This event was created by The Connecticut Youth Services Association (CYSA) and shows each youth service bureau and the work they have done for the community. This event also promotes the well-being of the state's youth, families, and children. This year the Cheshire Youth Services had a chance to bring in four to six children to tour the capitol building, meet legislators, and ask questions about the youth services of Connecticut. This year the topic was about youth empowerment and the disconnect between our youth and adults. The youth who were invited created storyboards about what empowered them. The kids and adolescents were paired into random groups and created a storyboard together with other youth from different towns. These storyboards are hung up in the capitol building and will be used frequently during this year's discussions about the youth. Legislators and government officials talked to the youth about using their voices to speak out, finding mentors to help guide them, and being resilient. The kids chosen got to hear from youth representatives from all over the state discuss the problems of their generation and how to fix that gap between youth and adults. After this panel of legislators that are involved with the youth, they got to discuss their point of view on the disconnect and discussed how they are trying to fix this bridge. After this panel youth from Cheshire got to meet representatives from all aspects of government; from housing, to the environment, to school systems. This event gave insight to government officials on how to advocate for youth and what the youth need. This event perfectly aligned with The Connecticut Youth Services Association’s mission statement of this year. Their 2024 statement was to “advocate for substantial, supportive, and sustainable investment in each of the core areas which provide meaningful and transformative services to youth through Connecticut’s network of Youth Service Bureaus.” This even allowed them to know how to advocate for youth so that the association could follow through with its mission statement for this year.