Our Youth and Education Programs feature the following components:
BRIDGES Safe and Respectful Schools Program
BRIDGES is a nationally-recognized program serving Orange County schools for over 25 years. We work with schools to build campus environments that are respectful of diversity, where ALL students, staff and parents feel safe, welcome and respected. We offer conferences, workshops, camps and internships to support our work in schools across the county.
OC Human Relations Restorative Schools Program seeks to address the ineffectiveness and disproportionality that arises in more traditional school discipline systems by bringing a Restorative Justice perspective to the school setting.
Human Relations Ambassadors Program (HRAP)
HRAP is for young people who are looking to take the next step in their social justice journey by turning their belief in equality and respect into action. HRAP is a place to meet young people from across OC to discuss ideas, develop a support network and reach out to others with the message of respect, understanding and social justice.
Walk in My Shoes Youth Conferences bring together high school and middle school students from all over Orange County to attend a day long youth conference. Participants explore issues of identity and culture, develop their leadership skills and are exposed to examples of successful youth activism. Our goal is to empower and mobilize students to work towards creating positive social change.
Youth Leadership Institute (YLI)
The Youth Leadership Institute brings together diverse students from high schools across Orange County to participate in activities, dialogues and skill building exercises about human relations and social justice issues. Held over one or two weeks in the summer, students learned the skills to organize youth, take a stand against hate and injustice and create schools and communities that are safe and equitable for ALL.
OC Human Relations’ annual YouthSpeak Speech & Essay Contest features a county-wide search for the top human relations speech and essay written by middle & high school students.
