Once you have a draft of the plan, consider how you will release the final document to the community. Many communities organize launch events, celebrating the culmination of the effort with stakeholders from across sectors. Consider the launch as another opportunity to engage with youth – including those who participated in your consultation; youth can take active roles in planning and hosting the launch.

Involve media and politicians, leveraging it as an opportunity to raise awareness about youth homelessness broadly. You can be creative in your launch event design; consider how you can effectively engage youth, for instance, in the design and delivery of the event.

Prepare communication materials that are easy to read, catchy and to the point. While you may have the full report ready, it may be more effective to launch short summary documents, briefs, infographics and use social media to get the word out. News releases are essential and you may consider hosting a media conference. Leveraging social media will be important as well; prepare blog posts ahead of time, tweets and Facebook posts. Ensure your website is updated with the plan content as well.

Your spokespeople should be well prepared with key messages and have worked through potential ‘hairy’ questions that might arise. Again, developing a communications plan for the release can ensure you are prepared.

The launch can be a part of your advocacy strategy with government, engaging decision makers in conversations about the plan during the release and in the media. Ensure the plan is shared with key departments ahead of its release, allowing adequate time for administration to prepare ministers with issue briefs. You may want to have meetings ahead of the release to connect with decision makers around plan asks and propose endorsement of the plan. Often, government and other stakeholders will respond to a plan release by noting they will review it and consider their role in various aspects of your proposed direction.