Whitfield, 1
What is the History of the Whitfield County Collaborative?
Community Context. Located in the northwest area of Georgia, Whitfield County is a diverse community with a heavy concentration of carpet manufacturing related industries (The 2002 Georgia County Guide [GCG]). With a median income ($39,377) and an impoverished rate (ranked 37th) slightly below the State’s, Whitfield County is known as one of Georgia’s wealthiest counties due, in large part, to the advent of the carpet industry. Anecdotal stories relate the rise to wealth of many poultry farmers who had learned the art of weaving and dying from their ancestors. As previously impoverished citizens, they are particularly attuned to the needs of others and willing to help. The county retains most of its citizens for employment (86.9%) although it borders Tennessee. The past decade has seen an influx of over 16,000 Hispanics but the majority of the citizens are natives of the county or the area. As such, stakeholders say that it is much easier to “tap into” the community’s need to give something back. The county’s distribution of wealth reflects a dwindling middle-class and burgeoning wealthy and impoverished social classes. Over 11% of its citizens live in poverty. Of those living in poverty, almost 25% are children aged 0-17 years old. Applications for Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families have increased 35% and 24%, respectively over the past few years such that they now slightly exceed the State’s averages. With a low unemployment rate (4.2%) many attribute the rise in services to the meteoric rise in the number of Hispanics into the area over the past decade from 2,321 in 1990 to 18,419 in 2000 and accounting for over 22% of the total population.
Whitfield, 2 This has changed the dynamics of the community and its interactions as well as the focus of the collaborative. Collaborative History. In 1988, Whitfield’s Commission on Family and Youth contracted with the Carl Vinson Institute of the University of Georgia to conduct an assessment for the county called “Youth at Risk.” The evaluative component of this assessment provided them with indicators of the needs of the community. This led to an organized effort to establish a girl’s group home. In 1992-93, the Dalton/Whitfield Collaboration Council was formed and in 199394, they received a planning grant from Family Connection. These funds were used to hire a coordinator who was responsible for writing a Community Plan. The funds were also used to send seven (7) people to Simpsonwood (Norcross, Georgia) where seven (7) agencies were required to work together, among them the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Human Resources, the Health Department, Mental Health, and representatives from the schools. In 1994-95, the Family Connection Implementation Grant was received. This second grant was used to host a 2-day conference designed to train and teach others about collaboration. This conference had about 100 attendees and garnered attention from the local press and from surrounding counties. In 1995-96 the Dalton/Whitfield Collaboration Council merged with the existing Commission on Children and Youth to become Children and Families First Community Partnership for Dalton/Whitfield. The leadership quickly expanded to include all the state agencies, county schools, and the United Way of Northwest Georgia. In 1997-98, the collaborative was recognized by State Family Connection for “Outstanding Achievement
Whitfield, 3 in Strategic Planning,” and in 1999 the Collaborative approved by-laws and officially became a non-profit agency known as Children and Families First Community Partnership for Dalton/Whitfield, Inc. In January 2000, the collaborative was formally recognized as a Community Partnership by the Georgia Policy Council.
What does the collaborative look like when it is in place?
Structure and Philosophy. Currently, this private non-profit collaborative has two (2) part-time employees, a coordinator and a program assistant. The Board consists of fourteen (14) partner members who serve either on the Board or the Executive Committee along with the two staff members. I had the pleasure of attending a Board Meeting that celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the Collaborative. It was relatively short (1-1½ hours) but seemed indicative of many of their gatherings. With approximately 29 attendees, many of them new faces, the staff members and each of the Board officers spoke briefly and conducted the election of new officers. A bevy of members, officers, and staff then took the floor to review where they had come from and what they had accomplished in their decade of collaboration. The relationships expressed seemed deep and warm with many people respecting the proceedings but deviating from formality by addressing someone sitting across the room with a neighborly yell. Refreshments were served (“we do better when we’re eating”) and party hats were passed around which most (with few exceptions) wore proudly. “Testimonials from the floor” were called upon and several people stood up to reflect on some event or accomplishment. These stories were often tongue-in-cheek, reminding
Whitfield, 4 each other of some of the territory issues in the beginning and how they were “worked out.” Some of the speakers proudly spoke of how they were “disbelievers” in the beginning, and now they wanted to tell the world how much better things were due to the collaborative. They even sang a Collaboration Song (Appendix A). Doing Business. As part of the new business at the celebration, the Coordinator furnished information regarding Summer Programs in the area. Quickly, the announcements turned into an exchange process with several in the audience calling out the names and contact numbers of other programs that the Coordinator was unaware of or volunteering to get information on programs that were usually held in the summer but, as yet, had not been sponsored or announced. The repertoire and rapport sounded a great deal like the activity at an auction. Back at the office of the staff, the voice mails were full of individuals returning calls or furnishing even more information. The Coordinator remarked how much information they were able to get out via FAX and emails. To that end, it was no surprise that her email inbox was loaded with messages from others at all levels – local, regional, and state.
Whitfield, 5
How did you get to this point? What do you do that keeps the collaborative strong & healthy?
Finding Passion, Eliminating Turf-guarding. Those involved from the start strongly acknowledged that the beginning was tough. They saw larger agencies grappling over resources and power, and this was also reflected in those initial days at the community level. However, this did not overshadow their excitement over being involved at the state level in the creation of state programs. They did not want to just create programs; they wanted to be process-oriented, facilitating current agencies and programs while also designing new ones. And for that, everyone agreed and spontaneously said, “You gotta have passion to do this and make it work!” Patience for the Process. Initially there were concerns that writing grants together would result in diminishing the resources each agency would have access to. The reality was they found that by working together, they were able to maximize their resources and their impact. As this was not immediately evident, many of the original actors referred to their group formation in terms of the “forming, storming, norming” process, and they believe that this process has succeeded due, in part, to the fact that many of the original actors continue to be heavily involved. These long-term relationships have resulted in deep and abiding feelings of respect for one another where their disagreements can usually be voiced and discussed professionally with diminished risk of sliding into personal attacks. As one stakeholder put it, “We truly love each other, and we trust each other. And we’re patient. It’s the people, not the programs. We look for the right players in the right places!” Another collaborative member asserted that by trusting each other, they are able to have less meetings. He
Whitfield, 6 said, “In the beginning, man, it was just one meeting after another. We had meetings to talk about other meetings (laugh). But once we got past the who and got into the why – in other words, why we were there, and that was for the children and the community – we were able to put our differences aside and get some good work done.” Yet another strategic Board member said, “Our job is not to administer a big fat rule book, it’s to help people.” Celebrate Your People and Your Successes. There was also a deep appreciation conveyed for the volunteers as well as for staff and board members who consistently went “beyond the call of duty” to ensure that the business of the collaborative was attended to and that the message of the collaborative was constantly before the community and its constituents. One past Board President said, “Can a group of individuals working together change the world? The answer is YES! And it’s the only way!” Finally, many members of the collaborative expressed their conviction that the successes must be celebrated – no matter how small or how insignificant they may seem.
Whitfield, 7
What have you learned about developing strong collaboratives? Is that likely to work elsewhere? What advice do you have for new or existing collaboratives?
Leadership. First and foremost, the stakeholders interviewed for this evaluation insisted that you must have strong leadership committed to the needs of the community from the beginning. Members of this collaborative believed that having someone that was not entrenched in the community for their first Coordinator was a key in getting all of the parties/agencies to the table and lay aside their competitiveness and agree to focus on the needs of the community and its children. They felt that someone from within the community would have had too much “baggage” and history to be as effective because others would always be trying to assess the power of a friendship or previous relationship. Putting Community Needs First. Second, all of the members must ask themselves, “What’s going to be the best thing for the community?” They must suspend any issues of territoriality and competition they might have for each other. This means they must “stick to the process rather than the programs.” The follow-up to that is “never ever get involved with direct service!” Focus on Prevention, Participation, and a Single Population. Third, members agreed that the collaborative should focus on prevention. A few believe that it must be mandated who will participate and who won’t if you are to get certain agencies to the table - especially certain governmental agencies. Others said that non-profits must be mandated to collaborate and the mandate should be instituted through grants.
Whitfield, 8 Finally, almost all the people I spoke with suggested that the collaborative focus its attention on a single population and as few benchmarks as possible in order to most effectively utilize its resources. Although there was no consensus regarding how that should look necessarily, many did agree that the number of benchmarks mandated by the state was too high. Further, the change in population focus from early, middle, and late childhood to simply “childhood” was discouraging to others as it now seemed too broad. In other words, some members stated that they would not serve on as many committees because the interests will now have to be broader to encompass all of childhood.
What were some of the important factors that were vital to the collaborative’s success (e.g., characteristics of the community, leaders, history)?
A Tradition of Caring. Nearly all of the individuals I spoke with indicated that the county has a long documented history of giving. This spirit of giving may come out of the history of the community itself. Located in the northwest area of Georgia, Whitfield County is a diverse community with a heavy concentration of carpet manufacturing related industries. Almost one-third of its population is involved in production, transportation, and/or material moving (The 2002 Georgia County Guide [GCG]). Another 47% are distributed across professional, managerial, technical, sales, and administrative support occupations. With a median income ($39,377) slightly below the State’s ($42,433) and an impoverished rate slightly below the State’s (ranked 37th),
Whitfield, 9 Whitfield County is known as one of Georgia’s wealthiest counties due, in large part, to the advent of the carpet industry. Anecdotal stories relate the rise to wealth of many poultry farmers who had learned the art of weaving and dying from their ancestors. According to some carpet professionals, some of the earliest carpets in the area were actually woven and dyed in local chicken houses where many individuals ran a private “rug-making” business. As carpet and fine rugs gained popularity, many of these poultry farmers became quiet millionaires. As previously impoverished, or at the most averageincome citizens, this group seems particularly attenuated to the needs of others and willing to share their wealth. Whitfield enjoys other positive economic and community indicators. The county retains most of its citizens for employment (86.9%) which is somewhat surprising considering the county borders Tennessee and its diverse economic opportunities, all within a 20-minute commute. Although the county has experienced an increase in migration over the past decade with an influx of over 16,000 Hispanics into the area and increased opportunities in industry, the majority of the citizens are natives of the county, or at least to the area. As such, members of the collaborative say that it is much easier to “tap into” the community’s need to give something back. Effective Leadership. Another factor contributing to the success of the collaborative is the leadership of the collaborative. In the case of Whitfield County, most of the stakeholders paid tribute to the original Coordinator who was fairly new to the community, with no “emotional baggage,” and with a talent for writing grants and media releases. On numerous occasions, interviewees told the story of how that Coordinator would simply walk into an office and, using straight-forward tactics, tell that person what
Whitfield, 10 she needed and how they were going to provide it – often not realizing that she was challenging the person to either perform something they historically resisted or to work with someone (or agency) they historically opposed or avoided. When confronted with the “barriers” to accomplishing the task, the Coordinator would simply reply, “I’m not asking you how this can help you. I’m telling you how this can help the community, the children.” In the early days of the establishment of the collaborative, this kept the stakeholders focused on the task rather than on their own territory. She was also a skilled writer, and this allowed her to complete administrative tasks, include grantwriting, efficiently and effectively. Repeatedly, I was told she simply handled this as a professional, as a job, and with no room for personal agendas. The current Coordinator possesses many different characteristics that have strengthened the collaborative and moved it forward in its mission. She has a long history of involvement with the community at both professional and personal levels. Therefore, she knows many people professionally and personally, what they have to offer the collaborative, and she is able to tap into those relationships to get things done. Many describe her as a “people person,” a trait necessary at this point in the collaborative’s life to maintain and grow the work of the collaborative. The stable internal factor has been the Program Assistant who was hired under the first Coordinator and continues to function in her role under the present Coordinator. Although she was relatively new to the community at the time she took the position, she is bright, capable, organized, and passionate about the collaborative. She was consistently described as sincere and easy to talk to by stakeholders, and everyone referred to her untiring attendance and participation in the collaborative’s many events.
Whitfield, 11 Leveraging Legislative Relations and Power. Members I spoke with also indicated they cultivated relationships with local, regional, and state officials and politicians in order to leverage power. The Governor’s wife came to Dalton the last week I was in town interviewing them. After hosting her luncheon, members of the collaborative were able to get a commitment from her that she would make sure her husband was aware of the need for continued support to the program. The Challenge of a Changing Demographic. But Whitfield is not without its challenges. The county’s distribution of wealth appears to be becoming more bi-modal with a dwindling middle-class and burgeoning wealthy and impoverished social classes. Over 11% of its citizens live in poverty. Of those living in poverty, almost 25% are children aged 0-17 years old. Applications for Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families have increased 35% and 24%, respectively over the past few years such that they now slightly exceed the State’s averages. With a low unemployment rate (4.2%) many attribute the rise in services to the meteoric rise in the number of Hispanics into the area over the past decade from 2,321 in 1990 to 18,419 in 2000 and accounting for over 22% of the total population. For the past several years, a Latina parent has served on the Board in various capacities in an effort to represent the burgeoning needs of Latinos. This individual has also been active in the community with various organizations that have served as a clearinghouse to address the Latina issues. Although collaborative members would enjoy more participation from the Hispanic community, they also understand the demands on many of the Latina adults who may simply not have the time to allocate to the collaborative when considering their work and family obligations. Additionally, there is an
Whitfield, 12 acknowledgement that the cultural values of this population may not understand or embrace participation in community service. Clearly, the shift in the population demographic has changed the dynamics of the community and its interactions as well as the focus of the collaborative. The Challenge of Time and Consensus. As much as the interviewees applauded their ability to overcome their differences and territoriality issues, anecdotal evidence indicates that the impact of differences of opinion regarding the collaborative remain a challenge. Many of those interviewed confided that they believed that the attendance and participation of certain members was contingent upon who was on a project or committee. Even though some of the members would “go absent” from meetings for long periods of time, remaining collaborative members indicated that they knew if they had a specific need for the missing person, they would be able to access and involve them. As one member stated, “There are so many demands on our time. You have to do a cost/benefits analysis. If YOU feel that something isn’t broken, then you withdraw, or if you have no interest in whatever it is they are doing, then you withdraw.” The Challenge of Getting People to the Table. Another challenge to the success of the collaborative is the relative non-involvement of for-profits, although United Way may mediate this with their strong role in the collaborative. One United Way representative expressed, “We see the economy of pooling ALL of our resources – the people, the skills, the management, the utilities. Combining the brain power.” Others who are either missing from or have very sporadic attendance to the collaborative were members of the faith-based community, hospitals, parents, law
Whitfield, 13 enforcement, members of the county and city school boards, and the Chamber of Commerce. For instance, Whitfield County has the highest divorce rate in the nation. The collaborative focused on getting the faith-based community to institute a Marriage Covenant program; however, the Ministerial Association for the area dissolved, and that had marked a change in the participation of the churches in community-wide programs. Again, members indicated that they did not necessarily feel that these agencies did not support the collaborative, but they did feel their absence. Everyone seemed to agree that the collaborative’s initiatives would be better served if these agencies attended. Leveraging Power. The last barrier identified by the interviewees was the designation of powerless individuals by some agencies to attend the collaborative’s meetings. These individuals would most often attend a meeting and take notes, but rarely enter into the discussion or vote on an issue saying that they would have to take the information they had learned back to their “boss” and he/she would follow-up – maybe. Collaborative members indicated that, although they enjoy having as many as possible attend, powerless attendees generally did not contribute to the collaborative process, and under certain circumstances, might even hinder the process.
What systems changes have you engaged in? Why and how?
Decision Making. Certainly, there is acknowledgement that the Collaborative has been involved in changing the way decisions are made. This has been a 2-tiered process. First, the Family Connections staff has initiated and maintained an “email blast” list that they utilize to send out notices, information, etc. to all collaborative members and any other agencies/individuals they feel should have the information. This
Whitfield, 14 was accomplished through diligent attention to detail, by asking people for their email address, and by building a group mail account. The second tier of this component was to design and/or participate in forums, committees, town hall meetings, task forces and any other endeavor that would (a) inform the public, and/or (b) increase the collaborative’s visibility. Through their participation in these activities, they have been able to “trumpet the message” of how and why collaboration works. This has also raised awareness in the community, not only of what the community’s needs are, but how to access resources through the appropriate agencies. For instance, one forum was designed for Community Leaders to come and tell what issues they thought would be of interest to them and would benefit from being the focus of the collaborative. And both staff members participated in the community’s GLAD Day activities hosted by the Safe and Drug-Free Schools. The collaborative also sponsored a Community Seminar on Cultural Diversity (approx. 200 attendees). Strategy Mix. The collaborative also participated in creating change in the strategy mix and in how services are delivered. Although they do not participate in the direct delivery of service, the collaborative was able to work with other agencies to prepare their grant applications (such as the Antioch and Dug Gap Elementary Schools Georgia READS grant; Hablamos Juntos – Improving Patient-Provider Communications for Latinos grant submitted by the Whitfield County Health Department; a CYCC grant for funding the new Boys and Girls Club; a learning communities grant for the local high school). A dental clinic has just been established to ensure that each child that enters kindergarten is checked. The Truancy Treatment Team is working with the Dalton Public Schools to change a “no nit lice” policy so that it will coincide with the local health
Whitfield, 15 department’s policy that was adopted 2 years ago. Finally, a committee within the collaborative has written a letter to the Superintendents of both school systems and members of their Boards of Education regarding a proposal to co-locate the psycho-ed program and the Crossroads Intervention program to the same building. In preventive approaches, the collaborative continues to encounter resistance with their Joint Enrollment Event to recruit students for Head Start, Early Head Start, Georgia Pre-K, and Private Pre-Ks, hosted by the Collaborative at the health department. Finance. In the area of finance, all funds received from Targeted Case Management are being reinvested back into the School Outreach Program except for about 5% which is used to meet collaborative needs. Otherwise, the funds for the collaborative are managed by Dalton Public Schools.
What programs and activities have you implemented?
The Whitfield County collaborative has been responsible for initiating and/or helping to maintain a number of instrumental programs that contribute to the health of children and their families. A list of only a few follows: 1. The Student Success Program is a program in which "at-risk" high school youth are invited to participate in a Project Success class. They must sign a letter of agreement to meet certain standards. Community volunteers visit the class as speakers, as mentors to individual students, and as invaluable “assistants” who help provide field trips and other enriching activities for these students. 2. Two group homes for girls have been established. One was established shortly after the establishment of the collaborative, and is still located in the city of
Whitfield, 16 Dalton. Oak Haven is new, and the collaborative was instrumental in helping establish this through the House the Children Committee. 3. The Cross Roads Alternative School is for students in grades 7-10 who are experiencing significant difficulty in the traditional school. Eligibility criteria include: academic under-achievement, unresolved social service/family needs, excessive school absences, and chronic disciplinary problems. 4. The Truancy Task Force was convened in 1997 to investigate and address the high rate of absenteeism in Dalton Public and Whitfield County Schools 5. Truancy Treatment Team is a committee of multi-agency volunteers who review the attendance records of students who have been referred to them in an attempt to identify and remove barriers that may be prohibiting successful school attendance. The team meets for at least 20 minutes with each family, their children (when necessary), and the school social worker assigned to their case. After a review and discussion of the issues, a contract is developed to improve and/or correct excessive absenteeism. Failure to improve results in a referral to Juvenile Court. (Note: Please see the section “Illustrating a Theory of Change” for more information.) 6. House the Children is a committee of concerned individuals who are seeking to find more "bed slots" for local children in the custody of the Department of Family and Children Services and/or Juvenile Justice. 7. The Providence Boys Home is a state licensed home for boys located in Tunnel Hill (north Whitfield County). It is sponsored and run by Providence Ministries. This effort is a direct result of the House the Children Committee.
Whitfield, 17 8. School Outreach provides home and school based support services for families with children in grades K-2; academic assistance, school mediation, community referrals, crisis intervention, parent education, social activities, and workshops. 9. The Children's Advocacy Center, currently known as the Green House, provides a safe, non-threatening and child-friendly atmosphere for the forensic videotaped interviewing of children who have been sexually or physically abused. Therapy is provided on-site to help the child victims begin the healing process. 10. There are two Second Chance Programs in the community. a. The Oak Haven Second Chance Home provides a supportive and nurturing home for teen mothers and their babies who may not otherwise have a supportive environment in which to live. b. The Second Chance Program at Dalton High School includes child care as well as parenting classes and support for teen parents. Its goals are to reduce the dropout rate, reduce the repeat pregnancy rate, provide a healthy environment for the children of adolescents, and improve adolescent parenting skills. 11. Community Forums are held to bring topics such as diversity, childcare, teen pregnancy, gangs, and violence to the attention of the local community. The goal is that together the community will find ways to address these issues. 12. Asset Building is based on the Search Institute's research that reveals the factors in young people's lives that make them more likely to grow up healthy, caring, and responsible.
Whitfield, 18 13. The Health Department now houses a dental clinic that provides dental service for indigent children. There are also dental services available for indigent adults on some evenings and Fridays. The adult clinic is staffed by local dentists who volunteer their time and expertise. The clinic undergoes constant monitoring and changing in an effort to better serve the area citizens. This is currently being reconfigured and expanded to better serve the citizens of the area. 14. Success By 6 is now involved with identifying children who are in danger of being dis-enrolled by childcare. This is just one facet of Success By 6 in which its coordinator observes and assesses referred children in their childcare center and makes recommendations according to their needs. Another Success By 6 initiative includes the Fatherhood Initiative, a program of information and support for young fathers. 15. The Georgia READS grant was collaboratively written and received by two of the county’s elementary schools that feed into the high school with the lowest graduation rate. 16. The collaborative has established a partnership with the International Inclusion Center. The Whitfield County Children and Families First office is currently housed in this facility giving them a unique opportunity to reach the community's newest arrivals. 17. The collaborative works through community forums, regular collaborative meetings, and local media to raise community awareness of important issues relating to children and families.
Whitfield, 19 18. The collaborative maintains and shares a community partnership list on an annual basis, and they use email to get timely information to those most concerned.
What are the impacts of your collaborative on the following levels: service coordination, community awareness, community perceptions about the program, the health of children and families (others)? Is there some evidence of these effects?
Reduced School Absenteeism. The Whitfield County Children and Families First collaborative has been recognized for their successes in several areas. One benchmark they have been particularly successful in improving has been reduced school absenteeism. Many of the program elements mentioned in the preceding section have included this benchmark as one of their goals. For instance, when the pilot project for the Student Success Program was implemented, the Education is Essential branch of the Chamber of Commerce formed a committee to work with the program to (1) recruit volunteers from the business community to go into the classroom to present information about their companies and jobs, (2) host and/or financially sponsor field trips, and (3) recruit mentors for each of the students. The mentoring component was overseen by Big Sisters and Big Brothers who also developed the recruiting and training tools for the mentors. Twenty-three (23) mentors were recruited and trained for this effort, and the mentors included both of the staff persons from Family Connections. An orientation for the mentors and students was held, and funding was secured to send all of the 9th grade students at the high school to a Ropes Leadership development course
Whitfield, 20 during the school year. Business and community volunteers also served as judges fro the teens’ entrepreneurial business plan projects developed through a project with Teen Resource staff. The Boys and Girls Club conducted business from the International Inclusion Center during the summer (of 2002), and they provided activities for youth aged 6-16 from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm. Average daily attendance was 150. In August, the program was moved to the Ft. Hill School where they began after-school activities. There are nurses at each of the county’s 17 schools (although one nurse serves two schools). In the city schools, there are full-time nurses at each of the four (4) elementary schools and a ½ day nurse at the International Inclusion Center. The middle and high schools have no nurses available. There is growing concern about continued funding for these position, and the collaborative continues to work on helping them retain or obtain funding. The Truancy Treatment Team (TTT) meets twice per month. Members of the team are attempting to contact families two to four weeks after their meeting to see if the caregivers and/or students are implementing the recommendations of the panel. This has become a challenge and will continue to be evaluated as to the impact it has on compliance. Additionally, a Truancy Awareness Day is held during which time community volunteers “scour” the county for truants. Truants are then informed of the school attendance laws and given a copy of the law which is provided in both English and Spanish. In those cases where they establish the identity of the truant, his/her school is notified via the school social worker for follow-up. For more information, please
Whitfield, 21 refer to Item 5 in the preceding section, “What programs and activities have you implemented?” Reduced Repeat Teen Births. Another significant accomplishment for the collaborative has been in the area of the reducing repeat teen births. A number of programs have been implemented with the intent of addressing this benchmark. For instance, two camps have been held aimed at increasing self-esteem and building positive life values, Camp LaPapillon and Camp Cocoon. One second-chance endeavor provides a nurturing and supportive home for teen mothers and their babies who may not have other forms of support, whether it be social, emotional, or resource support. Another second-chance endeavor is located in the local high school and provides child care, parenting classes, and support for the parenting teen as well as for the children of adolescents. Although this is a benchmark that the collaborative has had impressive results with, it is also a benchmark that the collaborative has, admittedly, had difficulty in accomplishing. When asked about this, one collaborative member dismissed the idea that the collaborative could directly influence this benchmark and cautioned that moves in a positive direction may be difficult to quantify or they may take years to manifest as a statistic. Another member thoughtfully proposed that their difficulties in this area may lie in the cultural changes that have impacted the area with the significant increase in the Hispanic population over the last decade. This member astutely observed that there appeared to be culturally different norms in the Hispanic community that viewed teenage pregnancy as less deviant compared to the white community, and, therefore, not a high priority for change. The information that the collaborative gets from public
Whitfield, 22 health does not breakdown births according to race, so this is simply conjecture at this point; however, it is an opinion that is echoed with other members of the collaborative. Reduced Incidents of Child Abuse. A third benchmark that the Whitfield collaborative has been successful in improving is one of reducing the incidence of child abuse. Again, various programs have had this benchmark as their goal. Intense negotiations have been engaged in with local clergy to gain their support and begin the process to bring back the Marriage Builders/Covenant Program to the community. Training programs for Family support Workers, Head Start Workers, and others in the community who work with families have been held throughout the community and included Family Centered Practices, Better Brains for Babies, and Welcome to the State of Poverty Teen Homicide and Arrest. At least two benchmarks, reduced teen homicide (3rd best in the state) and reduced youth arrest (2nd best in the state), have seen significant improvement, and yet the collaborative has addressed them in more indirect than direct ways. Some stakeholders feel that these improvements are more of a “happy side-effect” of their other targeted efforts at reducing school absenteeism, reducing repeat teen births, and reducing incidents of child abuse. This would be a significant finding if a link could be established. In addition to the conjecture that improvements in this area are a “side-effect,” concerted efforts have been made to accommodate those youth who have been committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice. The House the Children Committee of the collaborative committed themselves to increasing the number of bed slots available in the community. Consequently, Providence Boys Home in Tunnel Hill
Whitfield, 23 received their license for 6 boys and actually had space for 10 once the State Fire Marshall’s office gave their official approval. Following that, a resolution was signed to develop a cottage for boys on Murray County property under the auspices of the Georgia Sheriff’s Estates. Additionally, community block grants were prepared and received for $500,000 each of these two neighboring counties. These grants will provide for a cottage in Murray County and an additional cottage for girls at Cherokee Estates in Whitfield County. Now the collaborative is focused on raising a one million dollar endowment fund to ensure continued operation of these programs.
In addition to the above commentary, please see the above section entitled What systems changes have you engaged in? Why and how?
What other differences does having a healthy collaborative make on its community?
Providing Leadership. The collaborative often finds itself in the position of negotiating the implementation of services and programs that it has no way of predicting. For example, the collaborative helped manage the distribution of an 18wheeler (semi-truck) full of food to area families that was donated by Feed the Children. A local community person knew Kathy Ireland – a spokesperson for Feed the Hungryand she dropped a well-placed hint that Whitfield could use the service. Providing Opportunities to Interact. The collaborative also sets up a base for communication and resource sharing among all of the members of the community. For instance, the Family Connections staff relocated their office to space donated by the
Whitfield, 24 International Inclusion Center. Here, they are included in events, invited to serve on committees, and generally accessed as resources. Providing Outreach. GA READS grants were received by both Antioch and Dug Gap Elementary Schools, both of which feed into one of the three local high schools. Dug Gap sponsored a community resource carnival on their “meet the teacher day” for students and parents. Antioch sponsored a community resource and pizza event for students and parents. Both schools continue to implement the programs and activities outlined in their grant applications. Antioch has even been successful in providing day care and transportation to the teaching sites. Both of these schools have had an overwhelming response to their offer of ESOL, GED, and parenting community classes such that they have added additional days of instruction to accommodate demands. Collaborative members are also quick to point out that both of these programs can attribute much of their success to their individual establishment of relationships to the faith community. The churches have even been instrumental in securing space for them to hold some of the classes. Setting the Tone. Finally, a culture of collaboration is catching. As one collaborative member told me, “We simply made it unfashionable to NOT collaborate. It’s all about changing values. It just wasn’t sheik to not collaborate.” As the values change, so will the community.
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Illustrating the Theory of Change
Truancy Team Treatment. A member of the Department of Juvenile Justice was continuing his daily struggle to address issues related to kids and crime. One of the frustrations he faced was the constant number of children truant from schools. Worse yet, some children were being expelled from school with no options, and this was setting them up for failure that would continue far into their adulthood. One day, he drove around picking up several of the kids and delivered them to the Superintendent’s office and asked the Superintendent if they were just going to throw those kids away. Then he took the problem to the Collaborative. A Truancy Treatment Team (TTT) was formed that meets on a scheduled basis with truant children and their caregivers. Members of the team include school social workers, high school counselors, department of juvenile justice representatives, juvenile police officers, the public health department, the Department of Family and Children Services, mental health, and a staff member from Family Connections. The TTT impresses on the children and the caregivers that the problem is recognized by a number of powerful agencies (i.e., schools, justice, health, etc.) who want to help in any way possible but who will also advocate for the child to ensure that the child has the opportunity to go to school. At the end of the session, all members of the TTT and the child and his/her caregivers must sign a contract that reviews the proceedings and offers clear and concise guidelines that must be followed from that point on. Failure to follow the guidelines and allow the child to become truant again carries consequences to both the child and the caregivers. Alternative Education. A second outcome to this story was the establishment of Cross Roads, an alternative school for grades 7-10 for children who are experiencing
Whitfield, 26 problems in the traditional classroom but have not entered the juvenile judicial system. Children come by choice to this school. The school is maintained though an Assertive Community Enrichment Grant – which was obtained through the collaborative – and they operate under many statewide waivers. Kids are enrolled on a semester basis, and while attending Crossroads they also take behavior management classes such as “anger management.” Consequently, they get referrals from the courts, parents, school officials and staff, and from the children themselves!
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Appendix A Collaboration Song (sung to the tune of Alouetta) CO-LAB-BORATION Collaboration, What’s Collaboration? Collaboration, what’s it all about? First you get a group, and you find a common scoop, First the group, then the scoop, OOOH-OOOH. Collaboration, What’s Collaboration? Collaboration, sounds like sour milk to me. Next you see a vision, followed by a mission. See the vision, get the mission, OOOH-OOOH. Collaboration, What’s Collaboration? Collaboration, will it work for me? If we all give up some turf, We can make a better “urf” Give some turf, help the urf, OOOH-OOOH. Collaboration, needs facilitation Collaboration, __(your facilitator)__ the best for us!!
Thanks, By: Nancy Bradshaw Whitfield County, GA