Department Resources

Neighborhood Initiatives

Neighborhood Initiatives builds collaboration and capacity in identified communities throughout Fairfax County to improve quality of and access to programs and services.

The Neighborhood Initiatives team provides technical support for partners, supports early childhood and school readiness collaborations, and manages the Neighborhood Initiatives Fund.

Goals

Neighborhood Initiatives goals are consistent with the following goals of the Fairfax County Successful Children and Youth Policy Team (SCYPT):

Children get a healthy start in life.
Children enter kindergarten ready to succeed.
Children and youth succeed academically.
Children and youth are physically healthy.
Children and youth are socially, emotionally and behaviorally healthy and resilient.
Children and youth are safe and free from violence and injury.
Youth earn a post-secondary degree or career credential.
Youth enter the workforce ready to succeed.
Youth contribute to the betterment of their community.

Impact Framework Strategy Areas

The seven strategy areas for Neighborhood Initiatives include:

Community Engagement, Inclusion, and Belonging
Resident Leadership, Shared Decision-Making, and Power-Building
Capacity-Building and Community Readiness
Collective Planning, Coordination, and Collaboration
Access to Supports, Services, and Opportunities
Community-Responsive Strategies, Action, and Implementation
Systems Change, Accountability, and Community Outcomes

Technical Support

The Neighborhood Initiatives team provides training and technical support for partners to build a shared knowledge base, increase community capacity for resilience and change, and improve the quality and impact of programs and services provided. Partners access information in the following areas: Collective impact practices; evidence-informed practices; asset-focused early childhood, youth and community development; community safety and Prevention topics, service navigation resources, and more. Our team works alongside community residents, nonprofit partners, schools, county agencies, and other partners to ensure that the voices and lived experiences of children, youth, and families shape both current services and future planning.

Within Neighborhood Initiatives communities, partners and residents work together to design and carry out activities that build trust, skills, and shared leadership. These efforts include creating working groups around community identified goals; offering hyper local service navigation and financial literacy support; developing youth leadership capacity; and more.

Learn more about some of the research, policies, and frameworks that inform the Neighborhood Initiatives Impact Framework:

One Fairfax
Fairfax Countywide Strategic Plan
Fairfax County Successful Children and Youth Policy Team
Fairfax County Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) 3.0
Fairfax County Early Childhood Strategic Plan: Strong Foundations, Bright Futures
Developmental Relationships Framework – Search Institute
Upward Mobility Framework – Urban Institute
Targeted Universalism – Othering and Belonging Institute
Fairfax County Chairman’s Task Force on Equity and Opportunity Recommendations
The Groundwater Approach – Racial Equity Institute
Deeply Rooted: History’s Lessons for Equity in Northern Virginia
Collective Impact 3.0: An Evolving Framework for Community Change – Tamarack Institute
From Redlining to Child Opportunity – diversitydatakids.org
Fairfax County 3 to Succeed and Protective Factors for Youth

Early Childhood and School Readiness Collaborations

All children in Fairfax County deserve an equitable opportunity to enter kindergarten at their optimal developmental level, and each child’s development is unique. From birth to age 5, a child’s brain develops more rapidly than at any other time in life. Children’s early experiences influence how their brain develops and what their future will look like. Children who begin kindergarten with a strong social, emotional, and cognitive foundation are more likely to be successful. Through the Neighborhood School Readiness Project, our early childhood education specialists assist communities and partners in:

Developing community-level partnerships to support families’ access to resources.
Bringing the voices of families to the conversations.
Partnering with families to grow school readiness opportunities in all communities.
Providing professional learning that is responsive to the interests of partners.

The Neighborhood Initiatives Fund

The Neighborhood Initiatives Fund builds capacity for community-based nonprofit organizations to deliver four initiative types within specific communities in Fairfax County. These service types include:

Communities of Opportunity works with community members to better coordinate services and make long‑term changes to the systems, policies, and conditions that lead to inequities. The goal is to support fair and effective strategies that strengthen community leadership, influence policy change, and help communities thrive and shape their own futures.
Opportunity Neighborhoods (ON) is an initiative that brings together residents, service providers, schools, and other supporters in defined communities to create a shared vision to address needs and achieve equitable results for youth and their caregivers.
Neighborhood and Family Resource Centers provide resources and assist with meeting existing needs within identified communities throughout Fairfax County. Key components include: delivering resources and programs to address social and economic challenges facing communities; Fostering community interaction and resident leadership development to address neighborhood concerns; and Providing support for academic achievement and enhance parent engagement with their child’s school.
Community Schools serve as hubs for communities, offering a wide range of services and support to students, families, and community members. The model’s integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities. Community Schools are collaborations between Fairfax County Government, Fairfax County Public Schools, and nonprofit organizations.

Neighborhood and Community Services

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