Parents Helping Parents Achieve Stability in Georgia

Togeth­er with Fam­i­lies, a pro­gram fund­ed by the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion, achieved remark­able results in its pilot pro­gram for fam­i­lies expe­ri­enc­ing home­less­ness in Cobb Coun­ty, Geor­gia. Recent­ly, the pro­gram grad­u­at­ed its first class, with all six fam­i­lies mov­ing into sta­ble housing.

Fed­er­al data show that in 2022, 47% of entries to Georgia’s fos­ter care sys­tem were relat­ed to neglect. Referred by the Cobb Coun­ty School Dis­trict, fam­i­lies in the pilot received cru­cial sup­port to secure basic needs like trans­porta­tion, employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties and edu­ca­tion. Sev­er­al par­ents even received donat­ed cars or car repairs to ensure reli­able transportation.

Chil­dren were able to stay in their schools, expe­ri­enc­ing improved atten­dance and aca­d­e­m­ic per­for­mance. Most impor­tant­ly, these fam­i­lies remained togeth­er, avoid­ing the trau­ma of enter­ing the child wel­fare system.

“Togeth­er with Fam­i­lies is empow­er­ing par­ents, who know best what they need, to be part of build­ing solu­tions that keep fam­i­lies togeth­er and thriv­ing,” said Feli­cia Kel­lum, a senior asso­ciate with the Foundation’s Fam­i­ly Well-Being Strat­e­gy Group. ​“We are eager to help oth­er orga­ni­za­tions learn from this inno­v­a­tive approach so more fam­i­lies can over­come the pover­ty-relat­ed chal­lenges that too often result in fam­i­ly separation.”

Empow­er­ing Fam­i­lies, Build­ing a Foun­da­tion for Stability

The pro­gram iden­ti­fied fam­i­lies expe­ri­enc­ing hous­ing inse­cu­ri­ty through refer­rals from the Cobb Coun­ty School Dis­trict. Togeth­er with Fam­i­lies pro­vid­ed tar­get­ed sup­port to address core chal­lenges on their path to sta­bil­i­ty. Key areas of focus included:

• Safe and Secure Hous­ing: The pro­gram offered assis­tance with nav­i­gat­ing hous­ing pro­grams; over­com­ing bar­ri­ers to secur­ing rentals, such as evic­tion his­to­ry or lack of rental his­to­ry; and even secur­ing rental deposits and cred­it repair assistance.
• Reli­able Trans­porta­tion: Many fam­i­lies received crit­i­cal sup­port with car repairs, down pay­ments for vehi­cles, or access to rideshare ser­vices. This ensured con­sis­tent trans­porta­tion to work and school, pro­mot­ing long-term stability.
• Employ­ment Oppor­tu­ni­ties: Par­ents were con­nect­ed to job train­ing, resume build­ing work­shops and inter­view coach­ing. This equipped them with the skills and resources to secure bet­ter jobs and improve their finan­cial situation.

The Pow­er of Peer Support

The pilot went beyond sim­ply pro­vid­ing resources. Togeth­er with Fam­i­lies fos­ters gen­uine con­nec­tions through its par­ent ally com­po­nent. These allies, them­selves with past expe­ri­ences in pover­ty or the child wel­fare sys­tem, receive com­pre­hen­sive train­ing to sup­port fam­i­lies by:

• Offer­ing Peer Sup­port: Month­ly meet­ings and one-on-one inter­ac­tions pro­vide emo­tion­al encour­age­ment and a sense of com­mu­ni­ty for fam­i­lies fac­ing sim­i­lar challenges.
• Iden­ti­fy­ing Needs and Goals: Work­ing col­lab­o­ra­tive­ly with fam­i­lies, allies help them define their spe­cif­ic needs and goals.
• Build­ing a Sup­port Net­work: The pro­gram con­nects fam­i­lies with valu­able com­mu­ni­ty resources, fos­ter­ing long-term sta­bil­i­ty and a sense of empowerment.

“When you’re at risk of enter­ing the child wel­fare sys­tem you can eas­i­ly feel like you’re not a good enough par­ent,” said Johnette Hill, a for­mer pro­gram par­tic­i­pant and cur­rent exec­u­tive advi­sor and par­ent ally. ​“With encour­age­ment and con­nec­tions, I’ve built up my cred­it and recent­ly pur­chased a home for my fam­i­ly,” Hill shared. ​“Now I get to give back the same help I received dur­ing a very stress­ful and soul-bar­ing time by being an ally.”

Break­ing Cycles, Strength­en­ing Communities

Togeth­er with Fam­i­lies was designed with the input of young peo­ple and par­ents who have expe­ri­enced pover­ty or the child wel­fare sys­tem. The ini­tia­tive lever­ages in-kind dona­tions to max­i­mize its impact, allow­ing it to help 98% of referred fam­i­lies avoid the trau­ma of sep­a­ra­tion. This proac­tive approach is fur­ther bol­stered by the shift to school-based refer­rals, which allows for inter­ven­tion before fam­i­lies reach con­tact with systems.

“When you don’t have some­body to fall back on, life can be extreme­ly hard,” said Sarah Wino­grad, co-founder and co-exec­u­tive direc­tor of Togeth­er with Fam­i­lies. ​“Our solu­tions illus­trate the val­ue of serv­ing as a nav­i­ga­tor for fam­i­lies unaware of how to access the resources avail­able to them. Sys­tem involve­ment is often unnec­es­sary when we can address these issues with­in the community.”

Pre­vi­ous­ly work­ing with refer­rals from Geor­gia’s child wel­fare agency, Togeth­er with Fam­i­lies has already sup­port­ed over 180 fam­i­lies. Look­ing ahead, it plans to imple­ment the fol­low­ing strategies:

• Expand­ing the Par­ent Ally Pro­gram: Engag­ing past grad­u­ates as allies strength­ens the pro­gram’s impact by pro­vid­ing ongo­ing sup­port and cre­at­ing a more robust net­work of men­tors.
• Rais­ing Aware­ness: Com­mu­ni­ty edu­ca­tion cam­paigns will reduce the stig­ma around seek­ing help and make fam­i­lies aware of avail­able resources. This will empow­er them to proac­tive­ly address chal­lenges and pro­mote self-sufficiency.
• Inform­ing Pol­i­cy: Data col­lect­ed from the pro­gram will be used to advo­cate for state and local child wel­fare poli­cies that strength­en fam­i­lies and reduce neglect-relat­ed fos­ter care entries.

With con­tin­ued sup­port from the Foun­da­tion, Togeth­er with Fam­i­lies is poised to empow­er even more fam­i­lies, with a new cohort start­ing in August 2024. Its inno­v­a­tive approach demon­strates the pow­er of com­mu­ni­ty sup­port in keep­ing fam­i­lies togeth­er and build­ing a foun­da­tion for stability.

Learn more about how com­mu­ni­ties can pre­vent fam­i­lies from hav­ing child wel­fare involvement