Volunteer youth advocates undergo training to provide services to children and youth through a variety of youth programming options at Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center. Each program offers a different way of engaging with youth, which means that volunteers have room for customizing their experience depending on their personal, professional, or academic interests.

In addition to completing a youth advocacy training, all prospective volunteer youth advocates must meet Walnut Avenue’s eligibility requirements for volunteering. All genders are invited to participate!

Being bilingual in English and Spanish is very helpful but not required.

Youth Advocacy Programs

People who complete the youth advocacy training can participate in one or more of the following programs.

Teen Group

Teen Group facilitators meet with teens aged 12-17 once a week, providing a prosocial opportunity to engage with peers as well as nonjudgmental adults. Activities range from fun field trips (Boardwalk, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Petroglyph) to silly competitions (gingerbread house-building, water balloon fights) to education (life skill workshops, using pop culture as medium to discuss heavy topics).

Kids Club

Kids Club advocates hang out with kids aged 11 and younger while their parent or caretaker attends a support group or meets with an advocate. Kids Club has opportunities for playing in our big backyard, scribbling on the sidewalk with chalk, or doing indoor activities with toys or art projects.

Classroom Workshop Facilitation

Workshop facilitators visit local middle school and high school classrooms to facilitate group conversations about teen dating violence and healthy relationships. Whereas Teen Group and Kids Club allow opportunities to build an ongoing rapport with the same young people who are visiting us each week, visiting classrooms is a valuable experience in learning how to interact in larger group dynamics with a wide variety of personalities.

Social Media Prevention Projects

Youth advocates can participate in creating content related to teen dating violence and healthy relationships for TikTok and Instagram.

Youth Community Engagement Projects

Often half the work in providing youth programming is the administrative side in networking, developing, implementing, and promoting the programs. Youth advocates can work with the community engagement coordinator on specific projects that aim to strengthen existing programs and build Walnut Avenue’s capacity to expand into other areas of service. This can include networking with incarcerated youth programs, foster youth programs, legal advocacy for youth, and other administrative or systems-related projects.

The Youth Advocacy Training

Offered twice a year in January and July, the youth advocacy training prepares prospective volunteers for participating in a variety of different services with different age groups.

The training consists of one full day and two half days, which are hosted in person at 303 Walnut Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA. The specific dates vary from year to year, but the days of the week and the length of each session do not. The training is offered for free and is limited to people who plan to volunteer as with us as a youth advocate.

Volunteers who complete the youth advocacy training and meet the general eligibility requirements for volunteering may then choose which youth programs to participate in!

To register for a training, you must attend a general volunteer orientation prior to the start of the training you wish to participate in. You cannot register during the training itself. Open registration ends one week before the start of a training.

FAQ

“What kind of certification does this training offer?”

The youth advocacy training does not offer any certification, licensing, or CEUs. It’s specific to Walnut Avenue’s programs. However, our domestic violence advocacy certification training does offer that, and for free!

“I’m a student. Can I get academic credit for this?”

That depends on your academic program. Many folks do join us to earn academic credit. Additional information is available on the general volunteering page.

“I’m not 18. Could I still do this?”

Unfortunately, no. Volunteer youth advocates must be at least 18 years old. However, we do have volunteer options for people younger than 18! Check out our list of volunteer positions here.