PRESS RELEASE: November 11, 2005

Commission on Children and Families’ (CCF) Stepping Stones Report Released to the Public

Trends identified in critical areas of child and family well-being

CHARLOTTESVILLE , VA — The Charlottesville/Albemarle Commission on Children and Families (CCF) has issued the sixth edition of Stepping Stones, the annual Charlottesville and Albemarle statistical report on the well-being of local children and families.

Stepping Stones was created in 1999 as a tool to chart the health of children and their families in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County .  Now, six years later, Stepping Stones includes sufficient longitudinal data to identify positive and negative trends on a growing percentage of the 62 indicators chosen to measure child and family well-being.  Some of these trends are highlighted below:

Academic Achievement indicators:

·        On the Grade 3 Standards of Learning tests, children in both localities showed steady improvement in their English, math, history, and science scores.

·        On the Grade 5 Standards of Learning tests, children in both localities showed steady improvement in their history and science scores.  Albemarle County students showed improvement in math scores.

·        On the Grade 8 Standards of Learning tests, children in Albemarle County showed steady improvements in their math and history scores.

Community Characteristics indicators:

·        The percentage of adults registered to vote in Albemarle County has increased over a seven-year period.

·        The percentage of students with limited English proficiency has increased steadily over a five-year period in both localities.

Conduct in Community indicators:

·   The number of Juvenile Court delinquency cases in Albemarle County has decreased over a five-year period.

Discipline in School indicator:

·        The number of reports of weapons in schools declined in Albemarle County .

Early Childhood Education indicator:

·   The number of children entering kindergarten who were identified for intervention services on the Early Intervention Reading Initiative has decreased in Albemarle County .

Family Characteristics:

·   The foster care rate has declined in Albemarle County over a five-year period

·   While there are no trends in family composition in Charlottesville over a five-year period, the majority of children continue to be reared in single-parent homes.

Financial Assistance Program Participation:

·        The Food Stamp Rate has increased for a five-year period in Albemarle County

·        Participation in the free and reduced lunch program has increased in Charlottesville over a five-year period.

School Characteristics:

·        The percentage of children changing schools during an academic year has decreased in Albemarle County over the past five years.

·        The proportion of instructional personnel to students has increased in Albemarle County over a five-year period.

Stepping Stones is intended to stimulate community dialogue and action regarding regional trends in the Charlottesville / Albemarle community. For more information on CCF and Stepping Stones call Gretchen Ellis , CCF Planner at 872-4548.

CCF is a 22-member planning board that advises the Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors on improving outcomes for children and their families. 

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