A youth advocate is an adult who acts in the best interests of the youth that they are working with. The overall purpose of a youth advocate is to ensure that youth maintain their human rights while aiding in skill development in all areas of life such as education, health, housing, employment, relationships, etc. A youth advocate aims to prevent youth from experiencing diminished self-esteem while interacting with adults who hold professional authoritative roles in their life. Examples of these adults are judges, lawyers, teachers, etc. Travis Lloyd, a speaker on the subject, describes a youth advocate as one who plays a significant supportive role in the social and legal processes in the lives of young people, especially homeless and foster youth who lack family support. In consideration of the legal aspects, the National Association of Youth Courts describes a youth advocate as a person who provides support to a youth respondent or defendant during a hearing.
Famous quotes containing the words youth and/or advocate:
“What Youth deemed crystal, Age finds out was dew.”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)
“I am not much an advocate for traveling, and I observe that men run away to other countries, because they are not good in their own, and run back to their own, because they pass for nothing in the new places.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)