We want youth to develop self-advocacy skills, create systems change & remove the stigma placed on mental health using shared experience. Nevada is a chapter of Youth M.O.V.E. (Motivating Others through Voices of Experience) National, a youth driven, chapter-based organization dedicated to improving services and systems that support positive growth and development by uniting the voices of individuals who have lived experience in various systems including mental health, juvenile justice, education, and child welfare. (www.youthmovenational.org)
We the members of Youth M.O.V.E. work as a diverse collective to unite the voices and causes of youth while raising awareness around youth issues. We advocate for youth rights and voice in mental health and the other systems that serve them, for the purpose of empowering youth to be equal partners in the process of change. We the members of Youth M.O.V.E. envision systems in which every youth that enters a youth serving system is being prepared for life through genuine opportunities and authentic youth involvement throughout all systems levels. We help guide the redevelopment of the systems so that no youth falls through the cracks. We advocate for youth to utilize their power and expertise to foster change in their communities and in their own lives. Nevada looks forward to the day when youth are no longer treated as numbers, problems or caseloads, but as individuals. We will all stand as partners: youth, youth advocates, supporters, parents, and professionals to improve systems so that youth are successful.