Virginia Cities Challenge

The five communities implemented aspects of Ready by 21 with teams of two to four leaders from each community participating in an introductory webinar. In March 2011, the teams attended a “policy institute” in Richmond, where they were trained on Ready by 21 standards, such as aligning and coordinating the work of all of the “stakeholders” in their communities (including public, private and nonprofit agencies), agreeing on specific goals for all children and youth, and establishing measurable outcomes to gauge their progress.

Assistance included helping the communities gather input from youth, families and stakeholders; aligning various databases among agencies to track conditions and outcomes for youth and families; developing a “big-picture action plan”; and using data to adopt effective policies and practices.

The five participating communities were:

• Alexandria
• Charlottesville
• Hampton
• Surry County
• Virginia Beach