By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

The Morgan County Family Connection Collaborative meeting last Tuesday offered those present updates on sever of their strategies. Vice-chair Shey Daniel facilitated the meeting.
Coordinator Velde Hardy, Morgan County Family Connection Coordinator, shared several updates. They have two months left in their Morgan System of Care grant with some funds remaining. She said they still need to determine who will serve as the fiscal agent for those funds. The grant currently serves 13 families and 12 youth with one new referral.
Hardy reminded those present about the Regional Family Parent Conference that will be held in Athens this coming January. She said they would like to send 10 families from the county to participate in the workshops. At this time they are working on the logistics of getting the families to the event site.
Hardy shared that the Empty Stocking Fund has collected applications from families needing assistance. She has begun contacting churches that have previously helped to see if they can help again this year.
Debra White, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, said that the Morgan County Board of Education has its new website up and running. She noted that it is informative and benefits from several different content managers, which will lessen the time lag and allow them to get information out on the site quickly.
Morgan County Middle School will host Parents as Partners to allow parents to spend the day shadowing their child at the school. Sixth grade parents are welcome Nov. 27, seventh grade parents Nov. 28 and eighth grade parents Nov. 29.
She also reported that the Morgan County High School JROTC has had a very successful canned food drive. Their goal: 1,400 cans. They have already collected 1,500 cans.
“They’ve really done a good job of getting the word out and getting the cans in,” she said. “I’m very proud of them.”
Sylvia Milling, System of Care Family Advocate, said she has received an email of guidelines from the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health Initiative and her group is working on including the guidelines into their current meeting plans.
As to the Nurturing Skills for Family Programs, Milling said that group is continuing with its lessons. The Parent Cafes are still in the works: a potential partner group suffered a “significant loss” and so had to back out of that project.
Milling said the Families and Community Engagement (FACE) group has four very active parent leaders. They are trying to find the best time of day to hold their training.
Dr. Wayne Myers shared that the Ferst Foundation has enrolled about 80 percent of the children in the county in its program. As for the county’s Pre-K program, Myers said it is “moving right along.”
Pamela Benford, Morgan County Schools social worker, reported that Christmas wish lists have been given to children to fill out as part of the Family Ties Program. She said that group continues to look for speakers to share information with their grandparent members.

Printed in the November 22, 2012 edition