www.gafcp.org

1. www.gafcp.org

2. Family Connection History • Started with 15 original communities in 1991 • Has grown to the largest statewide network of communities in the nation (159 counties) that have made a commitment to improve results for children and families in Georgia • Driven by Kids Count statistics • Original public/private partnership included the Woodruff Foundation, Whitehead Foundation, Kirbo Foundation, Department of Human Resources, Department of Education, Department of Medical Assistance, and former Governor Zell Miller

3. Family Connection Partnership (FCP) • Public/private nonprofit working to improve conditions for children, families and communities in Georgia • Our vision is for Georgia’s children to be healthy, ready to start and perform better in school, and have stable, economically self-sufficient families.

4. FCP Core Concepts • Local decision making • Results accountability • Public/private partnership • Prevention • Family focus

5. FCP: Our Work • Provide training and technical assistance to communities, primarily Family Connection county collaboratives • Serve as a resource to state agencies across Georgia • Build and maintain relationships with public and private agencies and communities

6. What is a County Collaborative? A public/private partnership that serves as the local decision-making body for improving results for children and families

7. What does a County Collaborative do? • Develops, implements and evaluates a community strategic plan • Makes decisions about what results are desired • Sets priorities to achieve the results

8. What does a County Collaborative do? • Allocates resources • Holds itself accountable for the well-being of children and families in the community • Measures results on more than 26 indicators of child well-being using KIDS COUNT data

9. Regional Map 12 Regions

10. Key Community Sectors Representedon Collaborative Governing Boards • Public Agencies • Private Nonprofits • Local Governments • Consumers/Volunteers • Business • Education • Faith-based

11. Key Community Sectors Representedon Collaborative Governing Boards

12. Leveraging Dollars Statewide Sums of Cash Contributions to Collaboratives

13. Leveraging Dollars Cash Contributions to Collaboratives, Mean Total Contributions per Collaborative

14. KIDS COUNT • A national and state-by-state effort funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation • Tracks the status of child well-being in the U.S. through reporting current and credible data

15. KIDS COUNT • Seeks to enrich local, state and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all children • Publishes an annual Data Book and provides an interactive database at www.aecf.org/kidscount

16. In 2003, Family Connection Partnership (FCP) was named the Casey Foundation’s state grantee for KIDS COUNT. FCP now produces a variety of annual Georgia KIDS COUNT products. Georgia KIDS COUNT

17. Georgia KIDS COUNT • Tracks progress across five result areas: • Healthy Children • School Readiness • School Success • Strong Families • Self-sufficient Families

18. Georgia KIDS COUNT • State Summary • County, state, and national data online • Data Guide • Pocket Guide • Factsheets • Policy briefs • Press releases

19. Georgia KIDS COUNT Web site • Measures how children and families are faring in the state • Includes national, state and county-level data, as well as Census data by legislative districts. • Represents the largest compilation of the most current and reliable available data from a variety of sources in Georgia

20. Georgia KIDS COUNT State Summary • An overview of the most recent state-level data • Designed for widespread distribution to advocates, policymakers, community leaders, and the general public

21. KIDS COUNT Online Database www.gafcp.org/kidscount/index.html • Compare data between states, regions, counties and legislative districts. • Create custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and profiles

22. Georgia KIDS COUNT County Factsheets • County data incorporated into the State Summary are available on individual Factsheets and can be downloaded from the Web.

23. Georgia KIDS COUNT County Factsheets

24. Georgia KIDS COUNT County Profiles

25. Georgia KIDS COUNT Graphs

26. Sample of Findings Does the work of Family Connection result in improved outcomes? • A difficult question to answer unambiguously, but evidence is mounting. • Important limitations of county-wide data • Analyses from the Benchmark Database: Addressing vs. not addressing benchmarks • Positive results (New Family Index, Birth Weights, Child Deaths, High School Completion, Free or Reduced Fee Lunch) • Results that are not yet positive (Prenatal Care, Juvenile Arrests) • Ambiguous results (Teenage Pregnancies, Repeat Births to Teens) • Findings from recent Case Studies: High Functioning and High Impact Collaboratives (Testing the Theory of Change) • Learnings Regarding Collaboration and Collaborative Processes (Source: Metis Associates, Implementation Evaluation, 2nd Annual Report, September 29, 2004)

27. Sample of Findings (Source: Metis Associates, Implementation Evaluation, 2nd Annual Report, September 29, 2004)

28. Sample of Findings (Source: Metis Associates, Implementation Evaluation, 2nd Annual Report, September 29, 2004)

29. Sample of Findings (Source: Metis Associates, Implementation Evaluation, 2nd Annual Report, September 29, 2004)

30. Family Connection Partnership, Inc. 235 Peachtree Street Suite 1600, North Tower Atlanta, GA 30303 Phone: (404) 527-7394 Fax: (404) 527-7443 e-mail: communications@gafcp.org www.gafcp.org