Hampton Named Among the
100 Best Communities For Young People
Comments By Hampton Mayor Ross A. Kearney, II

September 27, 2005

Let me share a recent comment that I'd heard recently from a young person who grew up in Hampton and had then gone off to college. It was very touching.

He said, "Hampton was a great place to grow up. I really felt like I was part of the community. I know I will go off to a big city for awhile, just for the experience. But when I'm ready to have a family, I'm coming back here!"

In my mind, that says a lot about a community. And there are many other young people in this city of ours who feel the same way.

It was in 1990 that Hampton's City Council wanted a way, in times of diminishing resources, to build a competitive workforce that would contribute to the economic development of the city in the 21st century.

Council also wanted to ensure that young people and their families were contributing to the community.

The city pledged that it would become a community where the well-being of children is of primary importance. It also pledged that its policies and programs would treat young people as the foundation of our city's future.

This included commitments to Honoring Diversity Care and Nurturing Safety Health Education and Partnership. That means that young people deserve to be prepared, active participants -- whether it is in community service, government, public policy or other decision making which affects their lives and their well-being.

As a result of this thinking, Hampton's Youth Civic Engagement Initiative was born, creating a system of opportunities for all youth to be seen, heard and respected.

In 1996, two young people were hired by the Planning Department and given responsibility for a youth component of the city's Comprehensive Plan. Their charge was to engage the youth community in this city-wide planning process - and they succeeded.

The initiative continued to grow and expand into the school division, youth-serving organizations, and throughout the community.

Today, the initiative places over 300 youth annually in advisory roles to the superintendent of schools, secondary principals, city commissions, and neighborhood associations. Their recommendations have affected policy regarding cell phone use, school calendars, grade point requirements for extra-curricular participation, and neighborhood safety.

Today, over 100 teens volunteer, intern, or work within local government.

Over 300 pre-teens and teens serve in neighborhood or school leadership groups.

Over 100 teens serve on boards, commissions, or advisory boards.

The ideas they provide help move our community forward. And, most importantly, these young people feel empowered in a positive way - they are a key part of our community.

In 2003 the Hampton City Schools and Hampton City Council endorsed a policy that outlines a comprehensive city-wide approach to the healthy development of all children in the first two decades of life. Whether it is being born healthy and entering school ready to learn to having specific life skills or, to being on a path to pursue a career goal these and other indicators represent a strategy the city is giving great focus to, both now and into the next decade.

In positioning itself as a great place for young people, partnerships are at the heart of Hampton's success.

Partnerships create new resources to improve citizens' quality of life.

In our early planning, many in the city realized that solving youth issues did NOT mean more programs for kids. However, it DID mean focusing on the entire community that collectively shares responsibility for raising healthy children. Here are some examples of those partnerships:

The Coalition for Youth focuses on our teen-age population. City departments, non-profit agencies, and representatives of the business and faith communities play a key role. They ensure that all youth have someplace to go, something to do, someone to care, some way to contribute - and they ensure that there is hope for the future.

Included in this Coalition is the Youth Commission, a 24-member youth board that assures that issues addressed are pertinent to the teen population.

The Coalition has input to the City's strategic plan, and the City's campaign to promote the 40 developmental assets for youth.

As another example, IN-SYNCH Partnerships is a joint project of Hampton City Schools and the City of Hampton. It helps coordinate the services provided to schools, youth and neighborhoods. Over the past five years, In-SYNC has more than doubled neighborhood-based after-school opportunities for elementary and middle school youth, and has dramatically increased school success. 44 after-school sites provide safe places for over 1,500 youth per year.

The Hampton Healthy Families Partnership focuses on young children and their families. Through home visitation, parenting classes, newsletters, library resource centers, and other programs, it offers support and educational programming to the diverse spectrum of Hampton's families.

Outcomes achieved through the Hampton Healthy Families Partnership include:

• 27 percent reduction in founded child abuse and neglect cases (versus a 3.4 percent reduction for the region).

• Twice the decrease in the infant mortality rate as compared to the region.

• A reduction in the repeat teen pregnancy rate. Among Hampton Healthy Family participants, it is zero, compared to 30-to-36 percent among non-participants.

As a result of these and other efforts, we have seen specific trends improve. Let me give you some examples:

• Since we've initiated our Healthy Families parenting classes, young people's perception of the positive communication in their family has risen significantly. In Hampton, it is now 18 percentage points higher than the national average.

• Through surveys, the number of young people indicating that the community values youth was 5 percent higher in 2003 than in 1998.

• Prior to the Healthy Start program, children entering kindergarten with all of the risks associated with qualifying for Healthy Start scored significantly lower, as expected., in all measures of school readiness.

But by 2003, scores of the Healthy Start Graduates exceeded those of the general population of kindergarten students 7 out of 10 times.

In the last five years, as we look at the educational performance among the 15 older urban communities in Virginia, Hampton has moved from 11th to 1st.

Hampton's approach to education is designed with an eye to the future:

• 9 out of 10 Hampton students are skilled in computer use.

• Almost 75 percent of our students see that the skills learned in school will help prepare them for a future job.

• Hampton has 32 Nationally Board Certified Teachers which is the highest number of any division in South Eastern Virginia.

Through all of this success - in our community, in our schools, in our homes, and in our neighborhoods -- we are indebted to the individuals and organizations who are committed to our youth.

This includes a growing number of businesses and non-profits, as well as the faith community. It includes our school personnel, our youth league coaches and other volunteers, our PTA participants, and those all-important parents and guardians who are taking a very active role in the lives of their children - and helping them to grow to be the best that they can be.

We are indeed proud of receiving this national award as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People in America.

It is an honor.

And I can tell you that we will not rest on our laurels. We are moving full steam ahead because we know that the young people in our community are the foundation for our future.

Thank you.