Young Invincibles

Young Invincibles will engage young adults to enroll and train their immigrant peers in health care coverage providing health insurance literacy trainings for low-income Angelenos. YI helps young adults (18-34 years) and their families understand how to access and use health care, focusing on mental health needs, through a peer-to-peer messenger community model. Our paid leadership development program provides youth mentorship and networking creating positive mental health experiences and increasing social connectivity.

Young Invincibles equips civically-engaged young adults across Los Angeles through our paid leadership development program to thrive as today's students and workers, providing opportunities to address inequities by shaping local and state policies in education, health care, finance and voting. Our Young Advocates Program trains and coaches young adults furthest from power and privilege to build skills as policymakers, engage their elected officials, conduct research, mentor their peers, and tell their stories to center their lived experiences.

Young adults in Los Angeles face persistent insecurity in access to both food and health care. This insecurity is made worse by deficits in both information about and uptake of available health benefits, such as Medi-Cal, and food benefits, such as Cal-Fresh. YI seeks support to expand the scope of its proven Barbershops campaign, previously focused on Medi-Cal only - to better connect young people from the Black and Latinx communities in Los Angeles County to the health and nutritional benefits for which they are eligible.

Build a 5-stop Los Angeles leg of our CA Youth Jobs Tour to form a youth policy agenda driven by unemployed and underemployed youth.

Young Invincibles (YI) is an organization that expands opportunities for young adults between the ages of 18 and 34, with a primary focus on health care. YI creates targeted policy, research, and education campaigns that engage young adults and policymakers, and has become the most prominent national youth voice around young adults and health care, with offices and staff in LA and DC. Young adults are a key population to target as CA moves toward implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This demographic is disproportionately un- and underinsured, and often lacks both health homes and consistent care. YI recognizes the needs of young consumers and the importance of getting “young invincibles” informed and insured. New Exchanges also rely on the participation of the younger, healthier population to succeed and bring down costs for everyone. For many young people, a cell phone is a critical part of everyday life. Connecting with friends, finding directions, getting advice - it all happens on a cell phone. While 25% of smartphone users overall use their phone as their primary Internet access point, 42% of young adults, 38% of African Americans, and 40% of Latinos, go online mostly using their cell phones. In order to reach young adults where they are, YI has developed a free smartphone application, called Health Care Finder – Los Angeles, which easily disseminates health information to young adults in Los Angeles. The application educates users on available health providers, contains FAQ’s about the ACA, and gives information about different health insurance options. The app will also include a direct connection to the new California exchange where low-income youth can get Medi-Cal or subsidies for more affordable coverage, as well as push notification reminders around health services and enrollment. The app is already available on a range of smartphones and is already winning accolades as a true innovation in health care education. In a time, and in a city, in which everything is fast-paced and engaging young people can be difficult, this mobile application is a quick one-stop shop to obtain all of the information needed to help young adults make informed decisions on obtaining health coverage. The application can also help users identify facilities and providers that have been recommended by others in their communities. Since September 2012, YI has strived to improve the app, obtaining feedback from young adult roundtables around LA to ensure that the app is evolving in the most useful and targeted way for the population we serve. YI also continues to promote the mobile app through community events and asks users to provide feedback. However, to truly have an impact in terms of health and coverage for young adults in LA, YI must empower local young people themselves to take a lead role in our education and outreach program. Therefore, YI proposes to develop a base of diverse Young Promoters, ages 18 to 34, that can lead this effort and bring an authentic, trusted voice to their own communities. The Young Promoters will be given training on the ACA, coverage options, and on the use of the mobile app. Promoters will be selected among those that have participated in YI’s ongoing roundtable discussions and have been the most active in providing feedback. The work of these Promoters will result in the following: 1. Outreach and Education in Los Angeles: Young Promoters will be able to easily attend local community/school events and provide information about the mobile application and the importance of getting covered. 2. Train-the-Trainer: After receiving the training, Young Promoters will be given the opportunity to develop their own project in which they will be given a goal to reach 1,000 young adults and educate them about the ACA, how they can enroll, and encourage them to download the app. Young Promoters will receive a stipend of $1,000 when they complete their 6 month individual projects. We anticipate having 20 Young Promoters in year one. 3. Mobile Application Social Media Campaign: Through the base of Young Promoters and the young adults they train and inform, these Promoters will lead a social media campaign in which they will support the use of the free mobile application and will encourage others to continue providing feedback, information on resources that can be included, and most importantly to raise their voice on health care issues in their community. The goal is to ensure that a greater number of young adults are 1) obtaining health coverage and services and 2) that they are voicing their health care needs. Young leaders are the drivers that our communities need to ensure that everyone gets the care they deserve. As many organizations and groups in California are preparing to begin informing and enrolling the community in Covered California, YI and its Young Promoters can be the informational and educational providers and the voice for this population.