About Ready Region Blue Ridge

Ready Region Blue Ridge consists of the cities of Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro, and Winchester; and the counties of Albemarle, Augusta, Buckingham, Clarke, Fluvanna, Frederick, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Page, Rappahannock, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren.

United Way of Greater Charlottesville serves as the Ready Region Blue Ridge lead. The Ready Regions lead is responsible for on-the-ground coordination and integration of essential early childhood care and education (ECCE) services and resources.

Although one organization is identified as the Ready Regions lead, they must partner with school divisions, social and human services, quality improvement networks, ECCE programs, and other organizations involved in Virginia’s public-private early childhood system.

Ready Region Blue Ridge At-A-Glance

Ready Region

69%

of children under the age of 6 years old have all available parents in the workforce

Ready Region

43,884

children under the age
of 5 years old

Ready Region

26,200

child care slots
in the region

Ready Region

8,102

child care slots needed to meet demand

Ready Region

$129,425,600

in lost business revenue due to inadequate child care

Ready Region

44%

of children started kindergarten without key skills

Sources:

Percentage of Parents in Workforce: U.S. Census American Community Survey, 5-year estimates. 2019.
Children Under 5 Years Old: U.S. Census American Community Survey, 5-year estimates. 2019.
Existing Child Care Slots: Bipartisan Policy Center, Child Care Gaps Assessment. 2019.
Child Care Slots Needed to Meet Demand: Bipartisan Policy Center, Child Care Gaps Assessment. 2019.
Lost Business Revenue: Author calculations based on data from Ready Nation, Council for a Strong America, The Economic Impacts of Insufficient Child Care on Working Families. September 2018; U.S. Census American Community Survey, 1-year estimates. 2019.
Kindergarten Readiness: Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program results, Spring 2022, by Ready Region. Data provided by Virginia Department of Education.