2025 Day of Advocacy

Members of the Milwaukee County Youth Commission were joined by delegates from their districts as they held their first Day of Advocacy on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. 

More than thirty delegates met with members of the Wisconsin State Legislature who represent Milwaukee County, Governor Evers’ policy staff, and leadership from the Department of Public Instruction to discuss their policy proposals in the Youth Commission’s three identified priority areas of youth homelessness, youth mental well-being, and youth civic engagement:

1. Expand the McKinney-Vento Act’s implementation in Wisconsin by creating connections between schools and community programs to support youth experiencing homelessness who are not attending school. 
   1. Currently the McKinney-Vento Act in effect only supports students who are attending school, but many youth experiencing homelessness may not be attending school regularly. This expansion ensures that these youth can access housing, healthcare, and re-enrollment services through partnerships beyond the education system.
2. Ensure that every student in Wisconsin public schools has the option to meet with a school-based psychologist, social worker, or guidance counselor at least once per academic year. 
   1. This would help schools to facilitate early identification of mental health needs and prompt intervention, reduce stigma, identify issues that are affecting more than individual students, and address issues that may otherwise go unnoticed.
3. Require all Wisconsin public high school students to complete a set number of hours of civic engagement experiences. 
   1. Students could fulfill this requirement by participating in civic activities, such as attending local government meetings or volunteering for (non-political, non-partisan) civic organizations.