Office of Youth Services

Chesapeake Comprehensive Plan For Children And Youth

The documents presented here represent the plan for Chesapeake’s children, pre-birth to age 5 and children and youth, ages 6 to 22.  Upon completion of these efforts, the two plans will merge to result in a “Comprehensive Plan for Chesapeake’s Children and Youth,” which will be overseen by the Chesapeake Office of Youth Services. 

Throughout this nine month planning process, the Chesapeake Collaborative Planning Committee has worked to closely examine early childhood education and care from a number of perspectives.  We have reviewed the status of our youngest citizens from a broad range of social, economic, educational and health perspectives.  Where possible, we have compared and contrasted how our children stand in the context of the region and the state overall.

We have discussed, and at times debated, the relative effectiveness of programs and approaches that seek to prepare young children to be healthy and ready for success when they enter kindergarten.  To the extent practical, we have looked at the dollars that support such initiatives as investments-- investments on which our children and the citizens who pay for them through tax dollars are entitled to receive maximum return.

We have been particularly cognizant that today’s children will grow into a world that will be considerably different than the one we’ve known.  They will face competition for economic prosperity as adults from their counterparts now growing up literally all over the world.  And what is true for them is also true for American communities and U.S. companies. 

Simply stated, an important part of our working equation has been that today’s kids are tomorrow’s workforce.  Our ability to prepare our children academically, socially and health-wise for success in entering kindergarten goes beyond their futures as individuals.  It goes to Chesapeake’s collective future as a strong economic entity as well as to the nation’s economic security.     

This document is the programmatic foundation to ensure appropriate funding to meet the diverse and growing education, health and social development needs of the young children and families of Chesapeake.  It both reflects and responds to what the members of this Committee have identified through this strategic process.

In the years ahead, we will be careful stewards of any responsibilities which we are given, and will provide statistical ways of tracking program performance.  We will always assign top priority to accountability-- consistently defining the return on investment for dollars that underwrite initiatives for early education and care.

After all, it’s about the kids, and that’s critical.  But it’s also about all of us… and all of Chesapeake.

Ages 0-5

Full Document (994 kb, 45 pages)

This document has been broken into smaller sections, listed below, for easier downloading.

I. Investments In Quality Early Education & Care: What’s In It for Chesapeake?  What’s In It for You? (600 kb, 10 pages)

• Developing A Globally Competitive Workforce
• Family Involvement:  A Critical Factor in Childhood Development
• Raising Workforce Productivity and Increasing Company Profitability
• Early Education as a Significant Local Industry Segment
• Expanding the Region’s Workforce and Skill Levels
• Developing Tax Generators-- Not Tax Consumers
• Safer Communities

II. Plan Overview (161 kb, 5 pages)

• Project Background
• Project Scope
• Strategic Process Components and Flow
• Structure of the Plan
• Vision and Mission
• Overall Strategic Framework

II. Chesapeake Strategic Readiness Plan (288 kb, 15 pages)

• Ready Early Care and Education
• Ready Families
• Ready Schools
• Ready Health
• Ready Communities

Appendix A. The Statistical  Status of Chesapeake’s Young Children (196 kb, 4 pages)

• A review of the hard numbers on a wide range of factors affecting young children and their families that were developed and examined during this strategic initiative.

Appendix B. Issues Emerging From Data, Interviews And Focus Groups (120 kb, 4 pages)

• General conclusions on high priority needs and service gaps that were drawn from a review of all the findings of all the components of the planning process.

Appendix C. Key Participants in the Planning Process (63 kb, 2 pages)

Ages 6-22

Full Document (1.67 mb, 67 pages)

This document has been broken into smaller sections, listed below, for easier downloading.

Executive Summary (116 kb, 2 pages)

Plan (1.11 mb, 34 pages)

• Introduction
• Vision and Mission
• Plan Principles
• Areas of Influence
• The Residents
• Goals, Strategies and Indicators
• Further Research

Appendix A (898 kb, 12 pages)

• Comparison of Chesapeake with Neighboring and Like Localities

Appendix B (225 kb, 7 pages)

• Current Services

Appendix C (120 kb, 10 pages)

• Goals and Objectives