About Us
Our mission is to improve the well-being and health conditions of families through a collaborative system of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual supports.
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, Dublin Housing Authority, Department of Juvenile Justice, Chamber of Commerce, individual businesses, Juvenile Court, Dublin Police Department, Laurens County Sheriff, Department, Department of Labor, Boys & Girls Club, Heart of Georgia Healthy Start, Heart of Georgia United Way, Care Management Organizations, Local Boards of Education, Communities In Schools of Laurens County, Youth Recovery Community Center, WINGS Domestic Violence Shelter, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Community Action Agency, Dublin/Laurens County Teen Court, Oconee Fall Line Technical College, Middle Georgia State College, City and County Governments, 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
- 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
- Some of 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 seen remarkable results, but also, have realized that we still have work to do. For example:
- Teen pregnancy – still on roller coaster ride– although programs in place, our rates are still rising – from 37.2% in 2006 to 43.6% in 2010.
- We pulled together our partners to strategize about truancy; within five years of implementation of the strategies, the number of students absent more than fifteen days have declined from 8.6% in 2007 to 7.7% in 2011.
- Through the implementation of programs and collaboration with community partners, we have seen an increase in our high school graduation rate: 66.7% in 2006 to 77.1% in 2010.
- With the leadership of Public Health in collaboration with other partners, we are still working to decrease the percentage of low birthweight. Our goal was 10.2% by 2012; however, as of 2011 our rate was 11.1%.
- Through efforts and collaboration with Department of Children and Family Services and our local Prevent Child Abuse Coalition, child abuse and neglect rates have declined remarkably from 21.6 per 1000 in 2006 to 8.3 per 1000 in 2010.
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.
