History
The Fairfax Partnership for Youth was created in 1997 as an outgrowth
of the Fairfax County Community Initiative to Reduce Youth Violence
(CIRYV). The CIRYV was initiated by the County Board of Supervisors
and the School Board in 1996 with the charge of bringing public and
private sectors together to develop a shared vision and a comprehensive
plan for coordinating efforts to reduce youth violence. Over the course
of eighteen months of extensive information-gathering (including town
meetings in each magisterial district, a youth event, a service provider
survey, an audit of existing services, and gang member interviews),
the CIRYV Steering Committee developed a comprehensive plan and created
the Fairfax Partnership for Youth as the mechanism to put that plan
in place. The long-term plan includes seven issue areas (Hard-to-Reach
Youth and Parents; Role Models & Community Standards; Prevention
Programs; Youth Employment & Training; Information Dissemination
& Community Education; Community Collaborations; and Advocacy for
Youth) with long-term goals, desired results and proposed strategies.
On an annual basis, the Partnership reviews this plan, identifies other
emerging issues and prioritizes issues to be addressed (forming appropriate
action-oriented collaborative task forces).
Established as a non-profit organization in May 1997, the Fairfax Partnership
for Youth, Inc. (FPY) brings together the entire community to reduce
youth violence and to promote positive youth development.
The members of the CIRYV Steering Committee, many of whom served as
charter members of the FPY Board of Directors, recognized that there
are many excellent programs and services in the County, however, there
is often insufficient coordination, some program duplication, and significant
gaps in services targeting to "at-risk" youth. By implementing
a collaborative approach, the FPY improves the efficiency and effectiveness
of the delivery of available resources. CIRYV committee members also
realized that, for the FPY to be successful, all interested parties
(public, private and volunteer) needed to be at the table as equal
partners. The volunteer Board of Directors of the FPY includes representatives
of the Board of Supervisors and the School Board, along with representatives
of the business, faith, minority, civic, university, health, nonprofit,
parents and youth communities. The FPY identifies gaps in services and
reaches out to the entire community to pull together the resources needed
to fill the gaps. Our initiatives often begin as "pilots",
at one or two locations, with funding coming from foundations and public
funds. Once proven effective, the pilots expand as resources permit.
The FPY Board of Directors developed internal Board Committees and
external County Youth Issue Task Forces. Realizing that the issues affecting
youth and trends in "best practices" shift over time, the
FPY reviews its goals and objectives annually and is guided by its vision
statement: "To be a leader in bringing the Fairfax-Falls Church
Community together to create a nurturing and supportive environment
which provides opportunities for all children and youth to develop positive
social and problem-solving skills and a sense of purpose and independence
needed to become healthy productive citizens."