Washington National Guard Child & Youth Services
The Washington National Guard Child & Youth Services mission is to positively impact Soldier and Family readiness, resilience, retention and quality of life by providing secure, timely, flexible, and high-quality youth development opportunities and resources which promote the overall well-being of National Guard children and youth. Child and Youth Services is available for school age eligible dependents of National Guard Service member’s ages 6-18 years old and offers a range of positive activities designed to promote resilience, healthy development, and to ease transition into adulthood. The opportunities include life skills and resilience based curriculum facilitated at Yellow Ribbon events, one day workshops, youth council meetings, summer camps, and more. Through collaborative efforts, Child & Youth Services works with community organizations and schools to extend the outreach to our youth across Washington State.
The goals of Child & Youth Services are:
- Provide youth-based life-skills education and peer to peer connections to increase overall service member and Family readiness
- Build community capacity by developing partnerships with education and community resources that support geographically-dispersed military youth and Families
- Expand access to and awareness of federal, state, and community benefits that support military youth
- Provide National Guard children and youth with leadership and service learning opportunities to foster resilience and inspire future growth
- Provide programming which increases resilience skills in youth and promotes overall service member and Family readiness and retention
Opportunities include (but are not limited to):
- Youth Council – open to teens in 8th-12th grade who have a parent of family member in the WA National Guard
- State Youth Symposium
- Yellow Ribbon events
- Teen Resilience (CSF2) Training
- Youth Development Training
- Summer Camps and Day Camps
- Regional Events (Trunk or Treat; Holiday Events; Spring Events; Back to School)
- Information and Educational Outreach support for schools and community
- Manage a Volunteer Corps – Interested in volunteering? Click here for volunteer application.
Contact Info:
Lead Child & Youth Program Coordinator: office 253-512-7985, cell 509-548-4942
Child & Youth Program Coordinator: office 253-512-1356, cell 253-464-9392
Get Connected, Stay Connected – contact youth program coordinators to sign up for monthly youth program newsletter ”WANGY Weekender”
Resources
Military Child Education Coalition
Boys & Girls Club of America (BGCA)
Mission Youth Outreach (BGCA)
Military Outreach and Respite Child Care
