Nothing About Us: Centering Youth Partnership

In this powerful episode of The Shift: Voices of Prevention, host Nathan Fink converses with Leah Schluter and Adrian Amezcua from the Center for Childhood Safety and Wellbeing at the University of Oregon. Together, they share how youth leadership and data partnerships are transforming child- and family-serving systems.Leah Schluter brings years of practice and research experience in violence prevention—drawing on her long-standing commitment to centering equity and support rather than surveillance into prevention frameworks csaw.uoregon.edu.Adrian Amezcua joins her to explore collaborative projects that elevate youth voices, promote systems change, and turn data into tools for healing and transformation.Together, Leah and Adrian focus on:Preventing child abuse, neglect, and identity-based violence by uplifting youth partnership and shared decision-making;Designing data-driven, community-informed pathways to care that prevent harms before they occur;Aligning closely with Prevent Child Abuse America’s mission of shifting narratives—from blaming families to building systems grounded in justice, prevention, and belonging.Why listen?You’ll walk away with fresh insights on how to embed youth leadership into prevention strategies, use data to foster trust and healing, and rethink what safety means in real-world, community-centered terms.Tune in to discover how youth-led, data-informed partnerships are paving a new path for prevention.Subscribe for more episodes