On November 2017, Fairfax County adopted the One Fairfax Policy, a framework, or lens, used to consider equity in decision-making and in the development of policies, programs and services. One Fairfax serves as a dynamic force to ensure racial and social equity throughout the County and helps county leaders look intentionally, comprehensively and systematically at barriers that may be creating gaps in opportunity.
Recently, One Fairfax provided the framework for a comprehensive set of recommendations developed by the Chairman’s Task Force on Equity and Opportunity (read them here).
The Chairman’s Task Force was convened to leverage the insights, experiences, professional networks, and industry and institutional understanding that exists within our community to better understand the root causes of inequity and developed recommendations for accelerating the county’s progress towards becoming One Fairfax.
Implementation of the Task Force recommendations will be aligned with the Countywide Strategic Plan and other adopted countywide plans. The following Task Force Recommendations focus on early care and education:
- Ensure all families with children under age 5 have access to affordable, quality early childhood programs available through the public and private sectors (centers, family childcare homes and FCPS).
- Ensure all early childhood education (ECE) providers have access to professional development and skill building opportunities, in order to ensure the highest quality ECE services for every child, regardless of setting or program type. The Office for Children staff look forward to being part of the County team that will work to implement these recommendations.
The Office for Children has been implementing the comprehensive recommendations of the Fairfax County Equitable School Readiness Strategic Plan, Birth to Eight. The ESRSP reflects the goals of One Fairfax, which lifts up equity as a core policy principal, and lays out a vision and strategies for ensuring that all young children in the County have the supports they need to be successful in school and beyond. The ESRSP included the Fairfax County School Readiness Equity Lens, consisting of five core questions, to shape decisions about early childhood education policies and programs to support the Office for Children and other County agencies and community early childhood programs to promote equity with every decision made about policies, programs and resources related to early learning and development.
In 2019-2020, Fairfax Futures was awarded a grant from the Meyer Foundation for a project that field tested the Fairfax County School Readiness Equity Lens in a Fairfax County neighborhood. One result of the project was the development of an updated and simplified LENS. The simplified LENS will be an important tool for ensuring that equity is guiding our work moving forward.
With a thoughtful and tested LENS tool, OFC is working to operationalize an equity approach in all aspects of the work. A recent example of utilizing the LENS to prioritize equity in program planning was the development of the Supporting Return to School (SRS) program. The SRS program was created in response to Fairfax County Public Schools going all virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. SRS was launched in September 2020 to provide an essential support structure to mitigate disparities and opportunity gaps that may widen with virtual instruction. Equity was a primary consideration during the development of the program and impacted decisions made about the program, including location selection, enrollment and services provided. In the coming months, all OFC divisions will be continuing to use the LENS to ensure equity is prioritized in delivering services and supports for the community.