Collaborative Description
 

History and Organization: The existing Catoosa Family Collaborative grew from three previous partnerships. Both the Pre-K Program and the Crossroads Academy Alternative School had community committees. Realizing that most of the same people were involved in both collaborative endeavors, these two merged into one. At the same time, a social services agency collaborative had been meeting separately. After several years of co-existing, these groups joined forces, applied for, and received the first Family Connection grant in 1997. That enabled them to hire a full-time coordinator and begin expanding.

Meetings: In 1997, only 12 people attended the August monthly Family Collaborative meeting. In August of 2009, the number of attendees had reached 90. There is an email list of over 300 partners with 80 separate entities represented. Each meeting includes a speaker with a brief presentation of resources available to members. We encourage each strategy team to meet at the end of the monthly collaborative meeting, or some other time regularly, to network and review how their strategies are progressing.  In addition to Strategy Teams, other committees evolved to form around programs: a CPPC Advisory Board, a Catoosaa Ferst Foundation Committee, Prevent Child Abuse Catoosa CAT, and special committees for community-wide events. That method has been successful in accomplishing a wide variety of programs and activities.

Governance:  Because of the high level of trust, positive interaction, and sense of partnership, the Collaborative decisions are made by the appropriate partners in consultation with the Steering Committee.  The By-Laws for the Collaborative are reviewed annually.  The Steering Committee is comprised of heads of agencies and community leaders including the directors of public agencies, (DFCS, Public Health, School Superintendent,) law enforcement, county government, business, the faith community, and family consumers. A total of 18 Steering Committee members guide the Collaborative and oversee the work of the Coordinator.  Catoosa County government serves as the fiscal agent.  A representative from their financial office serves on the Steering Committee and gives monthly updates on all budget matters.

Recognitions: At several of the Family Connection Conferences, the Collaborative has received awards for the Fiscal Agent, Achieving Membership Diversity, and Outstanding Youth Development. In 2005, the Catoosa Family Collaborative received the Partnership 2000 award for Social Service Agency of the Year. In our community, this is a significant recognition by business leaders.  In the fall of 2005, Ringgold Telephone Company recognized the Collaborative as a group “Making a Difference” in the community through their monthly statement’s informative flyer.