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What a year 2008 has been. This year marked events that will be captured in the history books and taught to the generations that follow us. We've seen marked decline in our economy that has impacted everything from gas prices, costs for food and housing, and jobs across the country. We've seen a historic bail-out of Wall Street and crash of the U.S. auto industry. For the first time ever, a woman and an African-American ran for the top two offices in the United States, which ended in the first election of an African-American male, Barack Obama, as president of the United States. Right here at home, Georgia has seen drought, declining revenues, and major tornadoes that has devastated communities across the state-including Atlanta. While the national narrative plays in the background, we as Georgians must ready ourselves for what could be some tough times ahead and allow the changes of 2008 to create opportunities in 2009. There is one positive phenomenon that I believe has been happening across organizations this year that will get us through the coming years-collaboration. Collaboration has been our mantra for improving the lives of children and families in Georgia for nearly 18 years. While this has been our core business, more and more partners recognize that collaboration is necessary to bring about improvements in human services, systems change, and child and family well-being. We're glad to see more funding, partnerships, and initiatives targeted as a result of collaboration. We no longer stand alone in this regard and this is good news. More good news is that we've seen various successes this year that give us hope that we're on the right track for improving the well-being of our children and families. In this issue of Connected, we highlight our recent Georgia KIDS COUNT Tour. We provide some of the highlights from our six-city tour that informed leaders across the state about the conditions of children and families, and how to improve outcomes by implementing best practices and looking at 10-percent improvements by county. This year we're focusing on low birthweight, which is on the rise in Georgia. Read about the Low Birthweight Promising Practices Forum we co-hosted with Promising Practices Network and RAND Corporation. We also wrap up our three-part series on low-birthweight with a feature article by RAND Corporation. I wish you and your loved ones a peaceful and joyous holiday season, and I look forward to continue our work for Georgia's family and children in 2009. Sincerely, Gaye
Morris Smith |
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