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Forming a Collaboration

Balancing the needs and interests of the various groups that participate in prevention projects can be successful when people work together on shared goals. The following are examples and resources on planning and implementing community collaborations and partnerships, including State and local examples.

Collaborating and Coordinating: A Listing of Potential Partner Organizations for CBCAP (PDF - 212 KB) FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) & Circle of Parents (2006) Directory created as a resource for CBCAP lead agencies in the development of their continuum of services. Can also be used as a resource for anyone working in the field of child abuse prevention.

Community Collaboration.net
Information on collaboration and public participation.

Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships
University of Kansas Community Tool Box
A framework and supports for creating coalitions or collaborative partnerships.

Forming, Funding, and Maintaining Partnerships and Collaborations
Promising Practices Network
How to create community or agency partnerships, where to look for funding, and how to establish and maintain support for partnerships.

How to Build a State Network (PDF - 4910 KB)
Circle of Parents & Prevent Child Abuse America (2004)
Guides mutual self-help parent support groups in developing a new State network or reviewing an existing network through the use of strategic planning, outreach and engagement, evaluation, and more.

How to Develop a Statewide System to Link Families With Community Resources: A Manual Based on Help Me Grow
Dworkin, Bogin, Carey, & Honigfeld (2006)
Offers guidance for exploring, creating, and enhancing a single-point-of-access system to connect the families of children at risk for developmental or behavioral problems with community resources.

Rebuilding Communities Initiative
Annie E. Casey Foundation
This initiative is designed to establish effective neighborhood collaborations and demonstrate that troubled, low-income communities can become safe, supportive environments where children and families can thrive.

Safe Kids/Safe Streets
Applies comprehensive, communitywide strategies to the reduction of child abuse and neglect. This research-based program challenges communities to improve community response to the abuse and neglect of children and adolescents in order to break the cycle of childhood victimization and later delinquent and criminal behavior.

Systems Improvement Training and Technical Assistance Project, Toolkit Number 1: Building Effective Community Partnerships (PDF - 351 KB)
Institute for Educational Leadership
Provides ideas and links to resources that will increase the capacity of demonstration projects engaged in systemic reform efforts to bring together organizations and individuals, develop shared goals, and implement strategies to achieve them.

Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory
Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
This online tool assesses 20 factors that influence the success of a collaboration.

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State and local examples

Hampton Healthy Families Partnership
Hampton (VA) Healthy Families Partnership is a team effort in which city and community agencies have joined together with public and private organizations such as hospitals, restaurants, businesses, and banks to help families become healthy, happy, and self-sufficient. Through home visitation, parenting classes, newsletters, library resource centers, and a variety of other programs, the Partnership works to ensure that every child in Hampton is born healthy and enters school ready to learn.

Neglect Hurts Task Force
A Tarrant County, TX, collaboration of community stakeholders concerned about the impact of child neglect and abuse built a successful pilot program, NETCARE (Neglect Ends Through Collaboration of Agencies, Resources and Education), a case management model designed to interface with local Child Protective Service (CPS) staff to ensure that every Tarrant County child reported to CPS would receive services.

Recommendations for Improving Coordination and Collaboration of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Early Intervention Programs and Services Among State Agencies (PDF - 463 KB)
Texas Interagency Coordinating Council for Building Healthy Families (2006)
Recommendations for improving coordination include investing in cost-effective programs, enhancing evaluation efforts, and supporting the continued efforts of the council to focus on preventing child abuse and neglect and related State agency efforts to build healthy families.

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Updated on January 5, 2009