Northwest Georgia Workforce Area

Community Action Partnership (CAP)

A Youth Collaborative That Works

The Community Action Partnership (CAP) was formed in 1999 by entities serving youth
in the Northwest Georgia region (15 counties), to address common issues among service
providers and enhance collaboration at the regional level. A regional Comprehensive
Youth Development Strategy (CYDS) was developed in 2002-2003 as a result of the
Georgia School-to-Work (StW) Initiative. The two initiatives merged since the StW
partnership goals, i.e., career development, employer engagement, and student
achievement, complimented the CAP mission. Goals of the CAP/CYDS plan are to
increase the high school completion rate, increase GED completion by age 22, increase
postsecondary completion, expand career awareness among youth, and decrease
substance abuse. Over 30 separate entities are represented in CAP, and members
contribute ideas, resources, and time to promote youth development. CAP/CYDS meets
monthly to address the myriad of issues facing today’s youth. Examples of significant
CAP/CYDS accomplishments include:

• Providing cross training and coordinated training among member agencies

• Partnering of member agencies to submit grant requests
• Informing elected officials of common issues and needs of youth among entities
• Publishing a Regional Report Card with Region 1 benchmarks
• Sponsoring a Regional Legislative Forum with a youth panel
• Sponsoring a Regional Youth Summit with youth from 11 counties (beginning in
July 2002). The Youth Summit is now held twice/year with youth planning and
leading the event.
• Starting a Juvenile Justice, Public Health, Mental Health, and Family and
Children Services Interagency Case Management Pilot Project in August 2003
• Began Reclaiming Futures in September 2003, a project of Murphy-Harpst
Children’s Centers, to create a regional system of care for youth in the juvenile
justice system with substance problems
• Selected as one of four pilot sites for the MacArthur Foundation Comprehensive
Change Initiative by the Governor’s Office of Planning & Budget
• Provided mini grants to each of the region’s 15 Family Connection sites
• Held regional summit to engage economic development partners in CYDS
• Issued a “State of the Youth Report and Combined Plans Report – July 2003”
which took a county-by-county look at the current youth statistics and resources
available to assist youth.
• Held a regional summit, Business and Youth: How to Secure Profits, in May 2004
to engage the business community and education and community partners in
efforts to keep youth safe, healthy, educated, employable, and connected.

For additional information, please contact:

Northwest Georgia Workforce Area
(706) 295-6485

November 10, 2004