The Idaho Children's Advocacy Network, Inc.

Causes: Children & Youth, Children & Youth Services, Crime & Law, Youth Development, Youth Violence Prevention

Mission: The Idaho Children's Advocacy Network, Inc. was founded in Boise, Idaho on October 5, 2000. It began as a concept developed by two of the founders, Christopher Wallace and Brandon Davis, while they were on their way back to Boise from a conference in Spokane, Washington. Mr. Wallace and Mr. Davis were impressed by the high level of cohesion and teamwork between all of the youth professionals in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. The level of youth involvement was also quite high. They wondered why Idaho was not as well connected and talked about what they could do to change it. They decided that they wanted to create a network for youth and youth workers specifically for Idaho that focuses on the philosophies of youth development, experiential education, and community outreach. They felt it was important to involve youth as equals in the organization in order to empower them to meet life's challenges. In doing so, they decided that youth in Idaho suffer from a lack of adult advocates. They set the organization on a path toward children's issues advocacy. Upon reaching Boise, the name of the organization was conceived. It incorporates the fact that we are here to serve Idaho's children in need, to be their unconditional advocates, and that we are a statewide network. Our mission is to assist in empowering youth to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others through commitment, community participation, allowing opportunity for leadership, and to offer youth workers throughout the state an opportunity to really network and share ideas that could enrich all the diverse programs that Idaho has.