Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority
601 East 66th Street
Suite 101
Savannah, GA 31405
P.O. Box 14317, Savannah, GA 31416
Phone: 912.352.7054 ~ Fax: 912.352.7451
Edward Chisolm, Executive Director
YFA Collaborative Meeting
AUTHORITY MEMBERS --
The next collaborative meeting will be held on June 11 at 4:00 p.m. at the Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion.
Teen Maze Event-2013
A mini-Teen Maze event was held on April 30 at the Live Oak Southwest Chatham Library. 9th grade students from New Hampstead and Windsor Forest High Schools participated in a drunk driving simulation, as well as toured vehicles from various Chatham County operations such as CEMA, a helicopter for mosquito control, a marine patrol vessel, and mounted patrol horses.
The usual full-scale Teen Maze event is being scheduled for later this year.
Savannah Ready, Set, READ!
The Savannah Ready, Set, READ! is a component of the community level of the local Grade Level Reading campaign. In partnership with Live Oak Public Libraries, a Literacy Drive was conducted from late June to early July in which there was a goal of collecting 2,000 children books for community youth.
Thanks to the temendous support of our partners and the community, we were able to collect approx 1,800 books.
We express a sincere Thank You to all who helped support this effort.
Coastal Drug Free Communities Coalition
With support from the United Way of the Coastal Empire, the mission of the Coastal Drug Free Communities Coalition is to bring partners together to prevent and reduce substance abuse in our community. The coalition has produced an information rack card, and is gearing up for more community awareness projects in the near future.
Child Abuse and Neglect Coalition
With support from the United Way of the Coastal Empire, the purpose of the Child Abuse and Neglect Coalition is to both educate our community on and address the issues related to this problem. View the rack card that further explains the coalition’s purpose and data on child abuse and neglect. This group is preparing for a major community awareness event in April 2013.
YFA Celebrates 25 Years!
YFA celebrated 25 years of impacting the lives of children, youth, and families at a Silver Anniversary Gala event held on March 9.
A sincere Thank You to ALL who helped us celebrate this moment!
View event highlights.
Georgia Family Connection Partnership congratulates YFA on 25 Years of collaboration and service to children, youth, and families.
View acknowledgement.
About Us
The Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority (YFA) is a state legislated authority serving as the collaborative for addressing issues relevant to children, youth and families in Chatham County, Georgia. The collaborative is comprised of representatives from city, county and state government, the local board of education, more than 20 health and human service providers with a focus on children, youth and families, the United Way of the Coastal Empire, faith community, area businesses and neighborhoods. YFA is also the collaborative body and fiscal agent representing Chatham County in the Georgia Family Connection Partnership, which is a statewide initiative that promotes the use of collaborative development and family engagement to effect positive impacts on the condition of children and families across Georgia's counties.
The YFA has been in the business of collaborating and advocating on behalf of children, youth, and families since its inception in 1988. Part of the work involves engaging various sectors of the community in problem identification and strategies to address priority issues and concerns, and reporting to the community on key indicators that assist the collaborative in charting the course for change. Other work consists of maintaining the collaborative and its related committees, developing and monitoring plans of actions, and providing assistance as required on key initiatives and strategies that help in the achievement of the vision.
Priority Areas:
Child Health (Teen Pregnancy): Supports and services that target females would help reduce the considerably higher teen pregnancy and teen birth rates, which in turn, would reduce the overall rates for Chatham County.
Ensuring Educational Success: Students need to acquire the academic skills necessary to advance to the next grade level, perform to expectations, and graduate from high school. Completion of high school is critical in ensuring that they have increased opportunities to become stable and self-sufficient adults.
Juvenile Delinquency Prevention: There is a need to reduce the overall number of delinquent offenses committed by juveniles in our community, as well as reduce the number of youth committed to the state.
Early Childhood Development: Data indicates that there is a call for an initiative that will focus on early childhood health, school readiness, and family functioning. The concept for this need was derived from joint efforts of YFA collaborative members and stakeholders committed to improving the lives of our most precious resource—our children.