Building Effective Collaborations

Among First Things First’s core values is a commitment to and support for coordination and collaboration.  This is also a key theme for the First Things First Early Childhood Task Force as it identifies critical elements for an effective early childhood system for families with children birth through age five.  

Through coordination and collaboration, agencies  begin to look at how they can change the way they work together so that they deliver services to children and families in new, more effective and efficient ways. As a result of coordination and collaboration, families find it easier to approach and receive services and services are offered in a manner that is more responsive to the specific needs of the families. Coordination and collaboration also leads to greater efficiency and cost savings because organizations are working together to:

·         Reduce duplication.

·         Identify gaps and which agency best to address them.

·         Streamline application processes.

·         Share data on the needs of the community.

A commitment of coordination is a part of every First Things First service agreement with community providers and First Things First Regions are organizing coordination opportunities the bring provider organizations together to exchange information, problem solve, and plan for service improvements to increase families’ access to early childhood development and health services.

The Regional Partnership Councils in southern Arizona are an outstanding example of the commitment to coordination.  Planning together they recently hosted a collaboration meeting to bring together grantee and partner in their respective regions.  Grantees provided information about their services to families and connected to determine how to make greater impact by working together.