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."