About Us

About Spalding Collaborative

We are committed to our mission of improving conditions for at-risk children, families, and communities.  They work closely with communities to:

  • foster relationships with local partners,
  • increase policymakers’ awareness of local issues,
  • implement proven programs and practices, and
  • leverage additional funding to support community plans

Each Collaborative brings together – at the same table – the social worker, the nurse, the sheriff, the teacher, the minister, the business person, the public servant, and parents, then let them figure out the best way to help their kids thrive. We discuss our visions for our communities, assess the needs in our counties, then decide how our organizations can best work together to meet those needs.

Together we set an agenda that establishes our priorities and allocates resources to achieve results for families and children.  We measure results for our work by tracking locally selected indicators of child well-being using Georgia KIDS COUNT data.  KIDS COUNT is a state and national effort funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to track the status of children.

We believe that local decision-making – grounded in reliable data and best practices – will drive the change we want to see in our communities. We want our kids to be healthy, ready to start school and do well when they get there, we want our families to be stable and self-sufficient, and we want them to live in strong communities.  We’ve been making that happen for more than 20 years.

If you (individual or organization) share our vision, join us at the Collaborative table by completing our membership form.  Click HERE to complete the form.

To receive the weekly newsletter, sign up HERE.

Do you need other information about Spalding Collaborative?  Contact us at info@spaldingcollaborative.com

Little Free Library Initiative

Through the Little Free Library program books are made available to families and children in the community.  There are over 30 little free library boxes, 2  book drop boxes, 1 art box and 1 plant pallet exchange  located throughout the city of Griffin and Spalding County, with more being installed soon.  Little Free Libraries work on a book exchange concept where you are encouraged to take a book and leave a book, but leaving a book is not a requirement.  Below, are some of the Little Free Libraries installed in the community.

 

About Georgia Family Connection

Georgia Family Connection is the only statewide network of its kind in the country with partners in all 159 counties working toward measurably better outcomes for our children, families, and communities. This gives us a unique vantage point—not only to see the big picture—but also to operate effectively at a local level.

We disentangle the mess of barriers, service gaps, and inefficiencies obscuring progress for our most vulnerable families. We do that by connecting our partners to resources, helping coordinate and manage efforts, and empowering our communities to craft local solutions based on local decisions.

Georgia Family Connection Partnership (GaFCP) represents and promotes Georgia Family Connection’s work, provides expertise in planning and governance, administers the state-appropriated funds for the local Collaboratives, sets standards of excellence, and helps Collaboratives evaluate their progress.

The state’s designated KIDS COUNT grantee, GaFCP also provides state agencies and policymakers with current, reliable data they need to inform decisions about improving conditions for the communities they serve.

Our Work

At Georgia Family Connection, we work to ensure that all children are healthy, primed for school, and succeed when they get there; families are stable, self-sufficient, and productive; and communities are vibrant, robust, and thriving.

None of these result areas stand in isolation. They overlap. By collaborating across sectors to address them, we nurture children and families who thrive in vibrant communities—everywhere. Because we work toward measurably better outcomes for everyone.