Brindis points out that not enough has been done to steer adolescents toward positive and healthy choices. By contrast, this age group will grow only 13 percent nationally. As the teen population continues to mushroom, we'll continue to fall short, leaving the next generation of California's leaders and our greatest statewide resource increasingly at risk. The Collaborative has engaged in a wide range of partners that it believes will have the capacity to create change at the state and community levels. The Plan outlines eight recommendations for a complete strategy to shore up what it sees as a woefully inadequate system for providing teens with key services and opportunities.
Adolescents currently have the lowest use of health services of any age group.
Although health care is an important aspect of the strategic plan, it is only one component of a comprehensive approach to improving adolescent health. Rather than marginalizing them, we need to give them a role in shaping policies that affect them. The plan calls on cities, state boards, health programs and media outlets to establish youth advisory councils and to train youths so that they can weigh in on policy matters that affect them. There's a lot of exciting work already taking place. It's a matter of building on this work, developing a unified vision of how we can invest in youth and creating the political will to get there.