Strategic Plan for Children and Youth - Planning Process
The Strategic Plan Steering Committee was appointed by the Manager of Community Services and consisted of staff from the Department, the Williamsburg Regional Library, and outside agencies. A list of the Steering Committee members can be found in Appendix A.
After consideration of alternatives for developing the Plan, we decided to undertake this project in-house. While we understood the amount of work and commitment involved, it was the benefit that comes from direct work on the Plan that prompted us to do the study in-house. While data is used from a multitude of sources, the work is essentially the work of staff from the Department of Community Services with much help and commitment from the outside agencies.
Several staff members reviewed thousands of pages of research and information on the general status of youth in America and the most effective ways of improving that status. Hundreds of websites were visited and the Steering Committee was provided with a condensed version of the collected information.
The Steering Committee solicited public input in two ways. A program survey instrument was developed and survey teams structured to ensure that every public and non-profit program in the community was surveyed. A total of 50 agencies were surveyed about 172 different programs. In addition, a series of 10 focus groups were held with service providers, youth, administrators, parents and other stakeholders.
Once the Steering Committee had reviewed the national, state and local data, including the results of the surveys and focus group meetings, a full day retreat was held. At the retreat, facilitated by Kelly Morton of the County Department of Human Resources, the Steering Committee developed goals and outcomes for the four general areas where the majority of our efforts will be directed.
Four senior staff members took leadership responsibility for the four general work areas and drafted objectives and strategies for their respective area. The entire Steering Committee then came back together and developed and reached consensus on the recommendations contained in this report.