About Us
Who We Are
Family Connection began as a pilot program in 1991 by Governor Zell Miller to coordinate services for the educational, social, economic, and physical well-being of Georgia’s children. Fifteen communities volunteered to participate in the two year pilot program. In 1993, the state legislature provided funds to establish a technical assistance system for the original communities. During the years of 1996-2001, Georgia Family Connection helped Georgia to improve 8 out of 10 measures of child well-being. By 2002, all 159 counties were part of the Georgia Family Connection network. Today, these counties continue working with families to be successful.
In our county, Family Connection is fortunate to be housed in the school system, where we can work closely with students and families. The Union County Board of Education serves as our fiscal agent. We have been in existence since 1998 and have developed relationships with numerous agencies and organizations in order to research the needs of children and families in our community, and to work together to address those needs.
The focus of our work: Every child in Union County will grow up to become a successful, productive and contributing adult.
We pursue that goal by determining the areas of need, building on community and family strengths, pooling resources, working with a variety 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 school success, appropriate decision making, physical and mental health and reducing drug and alcohol use.
Some of the projects that have been initiated through this process:
- Union County Mentor Program
- Family Outreach
- Union County Niyelo Program
- Attendance Support Team
- Backpack 2 School Bash
- Purposity
- Holiday Assistance
- Family Support Redesign
- Goodies From the Heart
- Panther Pantries
- Food Resources
- Budgeting 101
- Job Seekers
- Enotah Juvenile Family Therapy Program
- Positive Social Norms Campaign
- Union County Community Prevention Alliance Workgroup (UC CPAW)
The Future
We will continue working with our partners to determine need, as well as, develop, implement and evaluate programs.
Please join with us through financial support, and/or active participation as a volunteer or collaborative member to achieve our goal: Every child in Union County will grow up to become a successful, productive and contributing adult.
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.
