CAPACITY BUILDING

Increasing the resources, expertise, and services across the state of Washington that strengthen young people, families, and communities ensuring that young people can avoid or exit homelessness.

GENERATION NEXT

Building capacity includes supporting young professionals, especially BIPOC and those who identify as LGBTQ2S+ to receive the support, training, and compensation to ensure representation at all levels of human service organizations and systems of care.

ADVOCACY

NorthStar Advocates is dedicated to ensuring all services, systems, and policies are anti-racist and free of homophobia, celebrating the culture and identity of the young people, families and communities being served. NorthStar Advocates partners with and follows the lead of those with lived experience, trusting that they know best what worked, what didn’t, and what they need. NorthStar Advocates engages in advocacy that both prevents youth and young adult homelessness and secures what is needed to end their episode of homelessness.

PREVENTION

NorthStar Advocates is a leader and partner in advocating for policies and programs that support children and youth to be raised by their family (birth, adoptive, kinship, chosen) and community so they are safe, healthy, and able to avoid homelessness and institutional care.

SYSTEM INTERVENTION

NorthStar advocates for policies and programs that ensure systems of care (child welfare, juvenile justice, education, healthcare) support children, youth and families with dignity and trust, and empowers them to be decision-makers in their own lives.

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

NorthStar advocates to improve the continuum of services available to children, youth, young adults, and families that promote well-being, prevent crisis, and support recovery from behavioral health issues. Across the system, there is a need for increased service capacity and significantly more representation of people of color. NorthStar strives to ensure that treatment and healing for mental health and substance use disorder is humanized, individualized, culturally and developmentally relevant, and accessible to all young people and families in their community. NorthStar supports the movement to include peers with lived experience as critical partners in treatment and recovery from behavioral health challenges, expanding their role and ensuring they receive the necessary level of compensation, training, and support.