ABSTRACT
YOUTHS' RIGHT TO HEALTH-AFFIRMING SOCIAL CONTEXTS People are embedded within neighborhoods, communities, political atmospheres, and economic systems;these contexts determine living conditions such as access to quality education, employment with living wages, adequate and appropriate health care, affordable healthy food and physical recreation, and community support. Yet youths have inherent rights to health, enumerated by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.2 Among these are the rights to "the highest attainable standard of health" (Article 24), and to "a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development" (Article 27). SOCIETY'S NEED FOR POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT Aligned with the social determinants of health framework, which situates individuals' health outcomes within social contexts, PYD regards human development as a product of youths' internal assets functioning in tandem with their environmental resources and supports.4 As a strengths-based perspective, PYD maintains that all youths have internal and external assets that make their individual development and their contributions to society unique.5 Aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights ofthe Child, PYD insists that society is responsible for fostering environments where youths have the resources they need to thrive and, importantly, for involving youths as partners in shaping their world, as contribution is both a means and an end to PYD.5 Although favorable environmental contexts are essential for positive development, Yeager identifies four internal drives that help youths develop through adolescence5: (1) to stand out: o develop a personal identity;(2) to fit in: to develop a sense of connectedness;(3) to measure up: to develop competence and find ways to achieve;and (4) to take hold: to make commitments to particular goals, activities, and beliefs. "10 In response, Maine's Department of Health and Human Services announced the establishment of the Office of Population Health Equity (OPHE) within the Maine Center for Disease Control (MCDC) to collaborate within and beyond the MCDC to achieve health justice.11 The MCDC prioritizes youth participation through its funding to the Maine Youth Action Network (MYAN), which is composed of community-based, PYDguided programs that engage youths on issues of public health education, research, and policy.