About Us
Controlled at the community level, Family Connection is present in every county in Georgia. It is the largest statewide network of communities in the nation that have made a commitment to improve results for children and families. Communities In Schools, present in fifty Georgia communities and over 2,000 communities in the U.S., also controlled at the local level, is the nation’s largest dropout prevention initiative. For the last two years, Worth magazine named Communities In Schools one of the 100 best nonprofits in the U.S.
In our county, Family Connection and Communities In Schools are the same organization. We are a partnership of several organizations working with families to research the needs of children and families in our community, and to work together to address those needs.
Our Over-Arching Goal: All Children Will Succeed in School and in Life
We pursue that goal by addressing the root causes of problems, building on cultural and other strengths, pooling resources, engaging an extraordinary diversity of community members, and committing to a long-term process of planning, implementation, and evaluation.
Using a family-centered approach, schools, health and human service agencies, business, the faith community, law enforcement, nonprofit organizations, civic clubs, and others work together with families, focusing on academics, physical and mental health, nurturing parenting, economic success, and community service. We tap existing resources, streamline systems to be more efficient and effective, and initiate new projects like those listed below.
Our Partners
Department of Family & Children Services, Public Health, Athens Housing Authority, Department of Juvenile Justice, Chamber of Commerce, individual businesses, Juvenile Court, Police Department, Sheriff, Department of Leisure Services, Department of Labor, Catholic Social Services, YMCA, YWCO, Boys & Girls Club, Council on Aging, Child Abuse Prevention Council, Sexual Assault Center, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Department of Human & Economic Development, and many others. Our most important partners are the families whose children we are serving.
Some of the projects that have been initiated through this process:
- Pre-K Program
- Even Start family literacy program
- Early Head Start
- Homeless Education program
- Anti-truancy initiative
- Nutrition and health insurance outreach
- Summer Youth Program
- Community Partnership for Protecting Children
- Various welfare-to-work strategies
- Community Education Summit
- Unified Government, and School District
Our Results
Working in partnership with families, we have tackled intractable problems like teen pregnancy, child abuse and neglect, school dropout, and physical and mental health disparities, with implementation by the partners (School District, Health Department, DFCS, Advantage, et al.).
Working together, our partners have achieved remarkable results. For example:
- Teen pregnancy – after increasing annually for many years – began moving downward when our partners developed and implemented a comprehensive, holistic plan starting in 1992, and is now 42% lower;
- We pulled together our partners to strategize about truancy; within three years of implementation of the strategies, the number of students absent more than ten days had declined by 23%;
- Thanks in part to our welfare to work initiatives, led by the Departments of Family & Children Services and Labor, the traditional welfare rolls in our county declined by more than 95%;
- With the leadership of Public Health in collaboration with other partners, childhood immunization has increased by 15%;
- The percentage of babies born healthy (as defined by Public Health) is up by 31%, and
- Child poverty is down by 12%.
The Future
Our success is our partners’ success – we bring them together, they develop and implement the strategies. Our most important partners are the families whose children are being served.
Please join with us through financial support (tax deductible) and/or active participation to achieve our goal: All children will succeed in school and in life.
About Georgia Family Connection
Georgia Family Connection, a statewide infrastructure for aligning efforts across sectors, comes together through two distinct but connected change-makers: a statewide network of Collaboratives in all 159 counties and Georgia Family Connection Partnership (GaFCP). Each strengthens the other—and together, they form Georgia Family Connection.
We work toward measurably better outcomes across five key result areas:
The Georgia Family Connection statewide network—the only one of its kind in the country—works alongside children, families, and communities to help them thrive by crafting local solutions that maximize resources and make systems more effective and efficient. This network cultivates collaboration among community service providers, reducing duplication of efforts and allowing everyone to do more with the resources available.
Collaboratives equip local service agencies and organizations with the tools and methods they need to be more effective, helping them develop and work together on integrated strategies to improve child, family, and community well-being. We fill in service gaps in our communities by functioning as an incubator for direct services to families and children when a need isn’t being met. We also respond to urgent situations by maintaining strong relationships and the infrastructure necessary to deliver timely support.
GaFCP unites the statewide network in a shared framework that promotes consistent, ongoing collaboration and peer learning—equipping Collaboratives to draw on communities’ collective wisdom and experience across the state. GaFCP develops effective partnerships with state leaders, private enterprises, and other stakeholders to link the network with public and private funding, resources, talent, and innovation. GaFCP also empowers leaders across Georgia by making data accessible and providing practical tools, training, and technical assistance to support informed decision-making.
