Would you like to empower or inspire others?
We created Youth Engaged 4 Change to share resources to help you improve your life and the world around you. We welcome you to share your inspiring story or empowering resource with us. Or perhaps you would like to invite someone you know to share their story. The choice is yours!
How would you like to inspire or empower others?
One in 14 young people have experienced the incarceration of a parent. Most youth want and need to visit their incarcerated parents, but stigma about visiting a prison or jail and barriers, such as distance, can make it hard to visit. This October, as part of the #SeeUsSupportUs Month, help raise awareness about what it’s like to have a parent or caregiver incarcerated, and advocate to improve visiting at prisons and jails. Why is visiting important? What is visiting like? What can make visiting at a prison or jail better?
Here’s how it works:
Please submit an original visual (a drawing, photo, image, poem, or original meme) that creatively expresses your feelings about visiting or idea for how to make visiting more family-friendly. Include 1-2 sentences describing your image and why it is important for children and youth to be able to visit an incarcerated parent or caregiver. Want ideas? Scroll down to see winning submissions from a previous contest! Submissions are accepted through 11:59 PM PT, October 20, 2019. Once you submit, we encourage you to share your entry on social media tagging @youthengaged4change with hashtags #SeeUsSupportUs and #YE4C.
Judging process:
Once the contest period closes on October 20, 2019 at 11:59 PM PT, we will open voting on our website from October 23 through October 29 for people to vote for their favorite entry. Each individual can vote for ONE entry total, so we encourage you to share widely among your family, friends, and/or social networks and tag @youthengaged4change with hashtags #SeeUsSupportUs and #YE4C.
A panel of youth and adult judges from YE4C, the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP), the See Us, Support Us Network, and The Osborne Association’s New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents will select three winners from among the highest-voted entries to receive a $50 Amazon gift card.
Judging criteria:
The highest-voted entries will be judged on the following criteria:
- Does the submission answer the call to action? (Is the submission complete, including all aspects of the call to action, such as an image that appropriately addresses the theme?)
- Is the submission clear? (Is the submission coherent and readily understood by the judging panel?)
- Is the submission creative? (Is the submission original, unique in concept, appealing to a youth audience, of high quality and description?)
Eligibility:
Contest is open to any contestant who is between 13-24 years of age. Only United States citizens or permanent residents living in the U.S. states or territories can participate, and we cannot accept submissions from current federal employees, interns, or their children.
Learn more about children of incarcerated parents by following youth.gov, Youth Engaged 4 Change, and See Us, Support Us this October and hear from families who have experienced parental incarceration, celebrate their successes, hear their solutions for how best to support children and families affected by the criminal legal system, connect with supportive resources, and much more.
To be an advocate for change, you must have hope - a belief that positive change is truly possible. What makes you hopeful? What do you see - in yourself, among young people in your communities, or elsewhere - that gives you hope?
Here’s how it works: Please submit an original visual (a drawing, photo, image or original meme) that creatively expresses your feelings and 1-2 sentences describing your image and what makes you hopeful for the future! Submissions are accepted through 11:59 PM PT, August 30, 2019. Once you submit, share your entry on social media using hashtags #Hopeful4 and #YE4C.
Judging process:
Once the contest period closes on August 30 at 11:59 PM PT, we will open up voting from September 4 -15, 2019, 11:59 PT on our website for people to vote for their favorite entry. Each individual can vote for ONE entry total so we encourage you to share widely among your family, friends and/or social networks and use hashtags #hopeful4 and #YE4C! A panel of youth and adult judges from YE4C, Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP), and SparkAction will select three winners from among the highest-voted entries to receive a $50 Amazon gift card.
Judging criteria:
The highest voted entries will be judged based on the following criteria:
- Does the submission answer the call to action? (Is the submission complete including all aspects of the call to action i.e. an image that appropriately addresses the monthly theme)
- Is the submission clear? (Is the submission coherent and readily understood by the judging panel)
- Is the submission creative? (Is the submission original, unique in concept, appealing to a youth audience, of high quality and description)
Eligibility:
Contest is open to any contestant who is between 13-24 years of age. Only United States citizens or permanent residents living in the U.S. states or territories can participate, and we cannot accept submissions from current federal employees, interns, or their children.
