Navy Region Mid-Atlantic (NRMA) Child and Youth Programs (CYP) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story to commemorate the opening of NRMA’s CYP Academy for Professional Development, Feb. 6, 2024.
This new training facility offers mock classrooms for hands-on experience in a school-like environment with the intention to provide new and current CYP employees with the tools for success.
According to Beverly Clymer, NRMA regional child & youth program manager, the CYP Academy is the first of its kind and was developed to help address retention and operational shortfalls.
“The journey to identify the need for this facility began in the aftermath of the pandemic,” Beverly said during her remarks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “The facility was created with all roads leading to the need to rethink, reimagine, and recreate a training model to serve CYP professionals.”
Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, Rear Adm. Wesley McCall, spoke at the ribbon cutting and emphasized the importance behind the CYP Academy’s mission.
“This one of a kind approach targets opportunities for improvement at the source. This isn't a bandage solution, but one that will continually deliver quality, top-notch, employees to take care of one of our Sailors’ top priorities – their children.” McCall said during his remarks at the ribbon cutting.
“The region is laser-focused on the quality of service we provide to our Sailors and their families,” McCall continued. “The CYP Academy for Professional Development is not just meeting that focus, but taking it to the next level to get things right.”
The idea behind the CYP Academy for Professional Development stemmed from Beverly’s dedication to the mission behind child and youth programming and ‘Get Real, Get Better’ initiative, related to recruiting and retention.
“I want to take care of our region. Seeing the trends over the years, I saw something that needed to be fixed,” said Beverly.
That thing needing fixing was implementing new and innovative ways to train and develop employees so that they are well prepared for the job.
“We believe that in the context of CYP; teaching, learning, and leadership are complementary ingredients in the recipe of quality. One example that comes to mind is the pace of change as it pertains to our CYP workforce,” Dr. Jeffrey McGee, regional professional development program analyst for CYP said during the ceremony. “Such change calls on us to rethink training and development. Training must speak clearly to employees in order to build their confidence, gain their commitment, and motivate them towards outstanding performance.”
Navy child development centers and programs strive to offer quality care of each child, each day, without exception. The root of that care comes from providing current and future team members with quality training and development so they are well prepared; a task that the CYP Academy is already making a reality.
“The Academy is already providing initial orientation training to CYP professionals hired in the Hampton Roads area and will deliver professional training region-wide to CYP directors and direct care staff,” Beverly said.
Dani Smith, a Navy spouse originally from Texas, is the CYP Academy’s first graduate. After completing the Academy’s three-day course, she went through a week of shadowing in an actual classroom where she put her new skills to the test.
“It’s a rigorous program, but worth it,” Dani said. “They start you from ground zero and build on skills with hands-on demonstrations to get you prepared for the real thing.”
While in the orientation program, students get hands-on training with baby mannequins and other props. They use them to learn how to properly feed and hold a baby, how to change a diaper, safe sleep practices, choking prevention, and more. Students also learn about proper hand-washing techniques, policies and procedures, and safety and emergency preparedness.
The CYP Academy’s three-day orientation covers more than 30 topics to prepare students for their new career as a Navy CDC employee. It’s not a light course load, but Dani says it speaks to Navy CYP’s level of care.
“Doing this training and getting this guidance is something else,” said Dani. “If you are looking for something different in this field, this format is way better than most - in my opinion - when you’re looking at structure and care.”
For Jeffrey, providing quality care to every child without exception is something that will not only benefit CYP Academy students and employees, but also the service members that region CYP supports.
“We believe that by investing in our people with intention, in the form of quality training and development, we can move ever closer to our goal,” Jeffrey said, “and in striving towards this goal, our service members can execute their mission free of concern for the care of their children at home.”