Outreach & Engagement
Outreach & Engagement
Bringing People Together
RCY is committed to building strong, respectful and reciprocal relationships with a broad range of people who care about the well-being of young people. These relationships are essential to RCY’s ability to mobilize collective action in response to a diverse range of issues.
Why Outreach & Engagement Matters
We know that to understand the issues impacting young people we need to hear the perspectives of people who are fully immersed in the topics we are focusing on – whether it be connecting with families who have children with disabilities, front-line service staff working with young people dealing with substance misuse issues or understanding specific issues that arise from our investigations. We know we can’t change systems alone – we must work collectively to transform systems of care.
We engage with up to
people every year.
How We Do This Work
Our engagement work takes many forms whether it’s sitting in small circles with community organizations, hosting virtual gatherings to share findings from our reports, connecting with young people where they are at, or hosting large convenings on urgent topics such as the impacts of the toxic drug crisis on young people, we share out our role and welcome in a diverse range of perspectives that help us do our work.
Spotlight
Spotlight on Engagement
Over several months in 2024/25, RCY hosted a number of convenings focused on the impacts of the toxic drug supply on young people. Bringing together academics, people with lived experience, front-line staff, health and government staff, the focus was on collective action. Read more about the toxic drug crisis.
Over several months in 2024/25, RCY hosted a number of convenings focused on the impacts of the toxic drug supply on young people. Bringing together academics, people with lived experience, front-line staff, health and government staff, the focus was on collective action. Read more about the toxic drug crisis.
The Difference We Make
Proactively sharing our role ensures young people and their families can access our services when they need us. It also ensures our partner organizations know about our work and can use it to advance their activities related to supporting young people. Combining multiple perspectives toward a common goal often convinces decision-makers that change is necessary.
“How do we resist the hyper-individualization of care and instead create collective healing?”
– Virtual Participant, Toxic Drug Convening
