Cherokee County Health Department seeking youth for advisory committee

The Cherokee County Department of Public Health is now accepting applications for the first ever Cherokee County-Youth Advisory Committee (CC-YAC).

The pilot program will begin for the upcoming 2019-2020 school year, with cooperation from Jacksonville ISD. The students who will comprise the CC-YAC -- incoming juniors and seniors at Jacksonville High School -- will work with Cherokee County Public Health staff on policies, procedures, and potential outreach events to combat known health issues that residents of our county, particularly our youth, face each day.

“We need to start involving our young people in the process and policies that affect them," Cherokee County Department of Public Health RN Jason Cavazos said. "Many times, those in positions to make policy, do so with the intent of improving the lives of those around them. However, in regard to our young people, we cannot always say what is the best course of action, because we do not necessarily understand or see the day to day problems that teens and young adults face. An advisory committee made up of this demographic would be a great step towards improving our county by addressing these issues early on and would allow us to do so with factual, real-time information. What better way would there be to prevent health issues than to address them with our youth, potentially before they even become an issue?”

Applications may be picked up at the Jacksonville High School main office from Sarah Stephens or from Cherokee County Department of Public Health, 803 College Ave. in Jacksonville during normal business hours.