Three-Year Strategic Plan
The Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority's new Three-Year Strategic Plan was approved and adopted in January 2007, and outlines the goals, strategies, outcomes and initiatives that will drive the work of the Authority through 2009. The new strategic plan is built on YFA's previous 5-Year Strategic Plan that was adopted in 2002 and was reviewed annually and revised to include newer data and to reflect the ongoing planning process involving the work of the YFA and its stakeholders.
This new Three-Year Strategic Plan integrates the family strengthening philosophy and benchmarks associated with the Family Connection Partnership (FCP), in which YFA represents the FCP site for Chatham County. While the FCP's tenets for measuring success remain the anchor, YFA also has a set of additional measures that are monitored for Chatham County. In addition, the City of Savannah and the YFA have adopted the National League of Cities platform for improving outcomes for children and youth. This agenda was designed to guide municipal action and leadership on behalf of children, youth and their families. Another document that supports YFA's mission is the ÒReady By 21 Challenge: Helping Young People Be Ready By 21. This document was compiled in 2005 by the Forum for Youth Investment and outlines core supports that must begin at birth and continue through adulthood to ensure that youth are ready for college, work and life by the age of 21.
Throughout 2006, Authority members engaged in strategy sessions with key stakeholders to define goals and accountability measures. They were enjoined to actively negotiate change in order to affect agreed upon outcomes. Priorities identified during these sessions included: family and child advocacy; data collection; analysis and storage; coalition collaboration; and best practices facilitation. The YFA realizes that the work is not static and will require review and evaluative sessions throughout the year, via specialized committees. A data review process was also integrated into this initiative. These three focus areas are: Reducing Juvenile Delinquency, Ensuring Educational Success and Reducing Teen Pregnancy. These areas are woven into the overarching goals established in a collaborative process.
The Three-Year Strategic Plan is arranged around YFA's three Strategic Goals:
Goal 1: Support, through a network of public and private partnerships, a county-wide continuum of supports and services for families which embodies the principles of the Authority and moves the community toward realizing its vision for children.
Goal 2: Involve families, neighborhood leaders, nonprofit institutions, public and private sector leaders, and a wide range of civic, political, grassroots and faith-based groups in a broad-ranging effort to promote programs, policies and activities to strengthen families and transform communities.
Goal 3: Maintain and improve the collaborative structure to support the necessary planning, implementation, policy and system changes needed to enable the Youth Futures Authority and its partners to respond to community needs, develop a system of accountability and manage the collaborative plan with fixed resources.
By serving as a clear road map, the Three-Year Strategic Plan will guide the Authority over the next three years. This plan aims to mobilize both the public and private sectors of the Chatham-Savannah community to continue in their collaborative efforts to improve outcomes for children and families and to reverse the decline of targeted disadvantaged neighborhoods.