On March 5, 2013, the Alliance sponsored its 5th Annual Community Commitment for Change Conference: Bridges Out of Poverty.  Over 265 individuals attended the one day conference. The conference speaker, Jodi Pfarr, shared key lessons in working with individuals from poverty.  Topics included increasing awareness of the differences in economic cultures and how those differences affect opportunities for success.  Participants found the conference to be inspiring and energizing. Conference evaluation comments include:

"Thank you for bringing Ms. Pfarr to present at yesterday's conference.  It was an outstanding presentation as well as one of the most informative and useful trainings I have ever attended."

"I just wanted to thank you for the conference; it was fabulous.  Jodi is a very gifted speaker and has a way of putting a difficult subject matter into perspective.  I gained a greater understanding of poverty and I hope to take the information/knowledge gained yesterday and apply it to myself personally and professionally."

"Excellent workshop!  Awesome."

"Very valuable presentation. Great opportunity to learn."

"The presenter was great. Very real life examples."

What is the Northern Shenandoah Valley Alliance for
Children, Youth & Families?

This region of the state of Virginia comprised of Frederick and Clarke counties and the City of Winchester, has been working on the implementation of Systems of Care
since 2007 with the support and encouragement of the
Best Practice Court headed by Judge Elizabeth Kellas. You will hear the Northern Shenandoah Valley Alliance for Children, Youth & Families also called the "Alliance" and be referred to by its acronym "NSVA." 

What is Systems of Care?

A System of Care incorporates a broad array of services and supports that is organized into a coordinated network, integrates care planning, and management across multiple levels, is culturally and linguistically competent, and builds meaningful partnerships with families and youth at service delivery, management, and policy levels (Pires, 2002).




Our Vision

Building a stronger community--one family at a time.








Our Mission

The mission of the Alliance is to provide a collaborative, community-wide, strength-based systems of care to achieve better outcomes for at-risk children and youth and their families in Frederick and Clarke counties and the City of Winchester, Virginia.  We engage with children, youth and their families to strengthen relationships and community ties, as well as to maintain the youth and children in their community whenever possible and appropriate.




Alliance's Membership

The Alliance has representation of the three school systems, the three Departments of Social Services, the Comprehensive Service Act Coordinators, parents, the Court Service Unit, Northwestern Community Services Board, the legal community, non-profit service providers, for-
profit community based providers and residential treatment providers.