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Community groups encourage and facilitate policies and practices that minimize administrative demands on families, by sharing client information, using common eligibility definitions and determinations, and conducting common data collection.
The community builds the capacity to monitor:
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The Family Connection is a collaboration of the Georgia Departments of children and youth services, education, human resources, and medical assistance; the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget; Georgia Academy; communities; and private and civic partners working to serve children at risk. Local collaborative partners are funded and receive technical assistance to develop a vision for children and families; assess resources and needs; identify desired results; and develop strategies, benchmarks, resources, and accountability measures to achieve the results. In early 2003 there were 159 Family Connection sites throughout Georgia. www.ph.dhr.state.ga.us/regional/
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- Program, neighborhood, and community-wide outcomes
- The availability of primary and preventive services in addition to crisis interventions
- The availability of appropriate services and supports to everyone who needs them-both through individual programs and through community-wide decisions and resource allocations
- The cultural and linguistic appropriateness of services
- Barriers of race, language, and culture that might prevent families from obtaining supports
Local collaboratives advocate for supports that help parents balance workforce participation with good parenting. They work to ensure that employers and the rules governing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) take into account the importance of adequate time for parenting, especially during a child's first year.
Local collaboratives, often with the help of national advocacy groups, work for the adoption of policies that extend provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act to all workers with very young children by:
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| The National Partnership for Women and Families supports local campaigns to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act and other policies so that they cover more working people and more family needs and include paid leave benefits. www.nationalpartnership.org | |
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- Extending coverage to workers in mid-sized and, eventually, small businesses
- Extending parental leave from three months to six months
- Providing income to workers who take family leave, especially for infants, through a funding pool that combines public funds with contributions from employers and employees
- Allowing the use of unemployment insurance to fund parental leave
Local collaboratives keep funders and policymakers informed about barriers to effective action that require solutions at the funding, policy, or regulatory level.
Local collaboratives work to shape community-wide norms in ways that:
Promote stable family life
- Value support from formal and informal sources, including home visits, family support programs, and parent education
- Promote breastfeeding and responsible, responsive child rearing
- Value time spent parenting
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