UVA report looking at well-being of Charlottesville and Albemarle

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The University of Virginia Equity Center has released its 2023 report on the well-being of Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

“How do we know if we’re doing well? How do we know if our institutions and our environments are serving our youth and our families and our community, collectively?” Michele Claibourn with the Equity Center said.

The Stepping Stone Report is a resource to show where we have been and where we are now.

“It very much is intended to sort of help us bring evidence to bear and understanding what might be working, or where, again, we most urgently need to pay attention and invest resources and time and effort,” Calibourn said.

The report measures education, economic and housing security, civic engagement, and health.

This year, for the first time, the data was broken up by race and ethnicity to support equitable policy decision making.

The results show progress in some areas, but not all.

“On-time graduation, that’s been improvement over the last couple decades,” Claibourn said. “We continue to have a really high rate of children in poverty.”

Other results show that more than half the renters in Charlottesville are cost-burdened, and the number of people experiencing homelessness has increased.

Claiborn hopes data from the report can be used to improve the community.

“Whether we’re making decisions, or whether we’re holding people accountable for decisions, or whether we’re advocating for change,” she said.

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