4^th  QUARTER REPORT— 8/15/10

Strategy 1.1: Middle & High School

The Family Collaborative supports the Attendance Review Team through attendance incentive programs in the schools, and through the partnership mentoring program.  For the 4th quarter, 37 Catoosa Attendance Review Team meetings were held with elementary and middle school families and contracts signed.  The Catoosa County Children's Fund collected over $20,000 in donations for this fiscal year and continues to provide help and resources to families in need.  For the 4th quarter, there were 56 families that received $2,813.93 of help from the Children's Fund.  Club XTREME, an afterschool program designed to prevent youth drug use, was designed to help parents, teachers, and the community. The program has several principle components:  student reward system, homework/tutorial assistance, drug education course, introduction to local community heroes, and parent involvement.  Due to flooding at Battlewood Apartments, Sherry Goss started the after school program in September, 2009, in the Pine Forest neighborhood and went above and beyond her role as the director of the program to mentor a neighborhood family.  She held the program three afternoons a week.  The FC coordinator was a great help in getting the Battlewood office reopened by locating furniture and other items that were needed. Catoosa Club Xtreme moved back to Battlewood and served an average of 20 elementary and middle school students during the remainder of 2009-2010 school year.  The program reached a higher level of success this year.  WIN Georgia (formerly KidsNet Northwest) is a targeted expansion of a successful System of Care strategy to improve outcomes for youth with severe emotional disturbances, and who are involved with multiple agencies.  They are at-risk of out-of-home placement.  WIN Georgia offers wrap around services currently to 10 families in Catoosa County.  Catoosa County Student Leadership Teams for each of the three target grade levels--5th, 8th, & 11th finished their preparation and conducted their Big Help Day project on March 26th.  Each elementary group implemented an all day community service activity reported in our 3rd quarterly report.  The Think On Point abstinence program completed the school year in Catoosa secondary schools with classes held on a weekly basis.  The numbers were:  Ringgold High 178, Ringgold Middle 138, Heritage High 276, Heritage Middle 384, LFO High 198, and Lakeview Middle 125.  Partnership 2000 exemplary attendance rewards were given at each school in Catoosa County.  Business partners, numbering 220, contributed financially and through volunteers. The partnership mentoring program continues successfully with 160 adult mentors spending on the average of 30 minutes each week with their mentee.  There were 390 that attended the Mentor/Mentee Picnic in May.  Catoosa County operated the Seamless Summer food program at seven sites and served an average of 220 lunches each day during the month of June, 2010.  Three of those sites also served breakfast with an average of 102 children served each day.

Strategy 1.2: Kindergarten through 5th Grade

Catoosa Kids Day was held on Friday, April 30, 2010.  Forty-one agencies set up booths for the event on the grounds outside of the Catoosa County Health Department at the Benton Place Campus off Old Mill Road.  Catoosa Family Collaborative coordinator, Phil Ledbetter reported over 350 packets given for Georgia Pre-K and Head Start.  The Catoosa Health Department, with help from the public school nurses, provided vision, hearing, & dental services to 108 children and immunizations to 52 Kindergarten or Pre-K students that will start school this fall.  There were an estimated 400 families with well over 700 people total attending Catoosa Kids Day this year.  The Catoosa Family Collaborative set up a hospitality room to feed over 175 staff--vendors, health department, and Skills USA Club members.  The Catoosa County Children's Fund collected over $20,000 in donations for this fiscal year and continues to provide help and resources to families in need.  For the 4th quarter, there were 56 families that received $2,813.93 of help from the Children's Fund.  WIN Georgia (formerly KidsNet Northwest) is a targeted expansion of a successful System of Care strategy to improve outcomes for youth with severe emotional disturbances, and who are involved with multiple agencies.  They are at-risk of out-of-home placement.  WIN Georgia offers wrap around services currently to 6 families in Catoosa County.  Catoosa County Student Leadership Teams for each of the three target grade levels--5th, 8th, & 11th finished their preparation and conducted their Big Help Day project on March 26th.  Each elementary group implemented an all day community service activity reported in our 3rd quarterly report.  Partnership 2000 exemplary attendance rewards were given at each school in Catoosa County.  Business partners, numbering 220, contributed financially and through volunteers. The partnership mentoring program continues successfully with 160 adult mentors spending on the average of 30 minutes each week with their mentee.  There were 390 that attended the Mentor/Mentee Picnic in May.  Catoosa County operated the Seamless Summer food program at seven sites and served an average of 220 lunches each day during the month of June, 2010.  Three of those sites also served breakfast with an average of 102 children served each day.

The Catoosa Family Collaborative offered a fifteen week parenting course to families in Catoosa County, called Nurturing Parenting (affiliated with the Family Nurturing Center of Georgia, Inc).  Classes for school children and a nursery for pre-school children were also provided.  This program began in January, 2010 and concluded in April.  The issues covered in the parenting course are:

Establish discipline through family rules, rewards and alternatives to spanking/ yelling.

Praise themselves and their children.

Express anger and stress in healthy ways that do not hurt themselves or their children.

Use their personal power to make healthy choices.

Promote school success through relationships with teachers.

Problem solving and negotiation.

Recognize warning signs of drug use and how to create a drug-free home.

The class graduated 7 parents and one school age child. DFCS, the CPPC strategy team, and local schools refer parents to this program. Phil Ledbetter, Catoosa Family Connection coordinator organized and assisted in teaching this 15 week parenting program.  

Strategy 1.3: Prenatal through Pre-K Children

The Catoosa County Health Department provided 23 car seat and instruction classes to Catoosa County residents with pre-school age children this quarter.  Catoosa Kids Day was held on Friday, April 30, 2010.  Forty-one agencies set up booths for the event on the grounds outside of the Catoosa County Health Department at the Benton Place Campus off Old Mill Road.  Catoosa Family Collaborative coordinator, Phil Ledbetter reported over 350 packets given for Georgia Pre-K and Head Start.  The Catoosa Health Department, with help from the public school nurses, provided vision, hearing, & dental services to 108 children and immunizations to 52 Kindergarten or Pre-K students that will start school this fall.  There were an estimated 400 families with well over 700 people total attending Catoosa Kids Day this year.  The Catoosa Family Collaborative set up a hospitality room to feed over 175 staff--vendors, health department, and Skills USA Club members.  Over 1960 children, ages 0-5 were served by the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy program in Catoosa County this quarter.  The annual budget to fund this program is now at $73,000 with United Way paying most of that amount.  More donations were received during this quarter to fund the program.  The Family Resource Agency of NW Georgia (Head Start) provides child care for low-income families, prenatal and parenting skills, and necessary academic and social skills to prepare the child for success in school.  In Catoosa County, there are 141 slots for Head Start or Early Head Start children. There are 20 students enrolled in the Battlewood Head Start program for this school year 2009-2010.  The Parents As Teachers program served 48 children from 42 families in Catoosa County during this quarter through developmental information & support for families with young children, birth to 5.  Services included personal visits (95 total), group meetings, screenings, and a resource network.  There were 105 pregnant women enrolled in the perinatal case management (PCM) program at the Catoosa County Health Department during each quarter of the past year. The emphasis is to stop smoking and drinking alcohol during the pregnancy.  Catoosa County operated the Seamless Summer food program at seven sites and served an average of 220 lunches each day during the month of June, 2010.  Three of those sites also served breakfast with an average of 102 children served each day.

The Catoosa Family Collaborative offered a fifteen week parenting course to families in Catoosa County, called Nurturing Parenting (affiliated with the Family Nurturing Center of Georgia, Inc).  Classes for school children and a nursery for pre-school children were also provided.  This program began in January, 2010 and concluded in April.  The issues covered in the parenting course are:

Establish discipline through family rules, rewards and alternatives to spanking/ yelling.

Praise themselves and their children.

Express anger and stress in healthy ways that do not hurt themselves or their children.

Use their personal power to make healthy choices.

Promote school success through relationships with teachers.

Problem solving and negotiation.

Recognize warning signs of drug use and how to create a drug-free home.

The class graduated 7 parents and one school age child. DFCS, the CPPC strategy team, and local schools refer parents to this program. Phil Ledbetter, Catoosa Family Connection coordinator organized and assisted in teaching this 15 week parenting program. 

Strategy 2.1: Community Partnership for Protecting Children

The Catoosa CPPC strategy team has shared decision making by having a large group present at the strategy tem meetings that are from varied backgrounds. The team has members from DFCS, DJJ, the school system, parent representatives, grandparents and the faith based community.  There is strong attendance at the monthly meetings and follow up sub-committee meetings in between. The ST chair person Lisa Massotti runs the meeting and works with the CPPC coordinator ahead of time to prepare a meeting agenda. Lisa is a dedicated chairperson that keeps the team organized and focused.

The team makes decisions at the monthly meetings on what projects that we want to proceed with and shares ideas. Each member has an equal opportunity to share and decisions are made by a group vote. Newcomers are strongly encouraged to attend and participate. The meeting time is shared by Prevent Child Abuse members who also participate in the CPPC strategy team meeting. 

The Battlewood Neighborhood Association, with the help of the CPPC, is surviving and flourishing as an effective community organization, even with the September flood that forced several families to seek housing at another site. They add to the stability of the neighborhood and see that individual, family, and community needs/problems are addressed.   The CPPC site at Battlewood Apartments has 10 senior citizen residents (50 years of age or older) that have benefited from the CPPC. The goal is for the elder residents to receive services and demonstrate increased ability to care for their own personal needs and any dependent needs.  CPPC receives community support from other agencies through donations.   Fort Oglethorpe First Baptist donated supplies to CPPC sites to help with identified needs in target communities.  DFCS receives a high number of neglect cases and a lack of clean clothing is challenging for many families. The CPPC coordinator works with various organizations to help provide used clothing and shoes.  CPPC plans to continue working with faith based organizations and other community partners through the year. Civic clubs and churches provided emergency assistance and worked in the Battlewood community.  Local schools in the all of the target communities have been a part of the ST meetings and supports to families. School counselors and personnel provide services, emergency food, support and supplies to CPPC activities.

Partnerships with faith based organizations continue to be key players in providing services to families in target neighborhoods. One faith based volunteer and natural helper has been very active in the Battlewood, Oglethorpe Ridge and Pine Forest communities this quarter. Tina Rawlston has been a dedicated ST member that has mentored parents in all three target neighborhoods, participated in FTM training and meetings, developed and implemented neighborhood activities. Tina has mentored  15 families this past quarter, helping with parenting and family issues. Tina helped to organize activities and after school projects with other parents and has led activities for mothers to encourage relationship building.  

The strategy team continues working in the new target community of Tunnel Hill that encompasses the Tiger Creek Elementary