OUR COLLECTIVE IMPACT IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF OUR INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS.At United Way of Greater Atlanta, we create change by integrating services to address the specific needs among the individuals, children, families and communities we serve so they can sustain progress in education, income, health and ending homelessness over time.

Through collective impact, we achieve real change far beyond the capacity of any single service or program.

• Helping parents give a healthy start to every baby

• Giving every young child the opportunity to start school ready to learn

• Supporting our youth in achieving their college and career potential

• Preventing or managing chronic health conditions among children and adults

• Empowering adults to navigate a career pathway leading to a sustainable income

• Helping families master their finances and build assets

• Ending chronic homelessness through supportive housing

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DID YOU KNOW?Georgia has made progress in reducing its rate of premature births, but more remains to be done. Babies born before thirty-seven weeks gestation face the prospect of lifelong health challenges that affect learning and work. Contributing factors include a lack of prenatal care, obesity, tobacco and alcohol use among women of childbearing age. - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Too many babies are literally starved for words. Language is nutrition for the brain and without it, young children cannot enter school ready to learn. By three years of age, children from low-income households hear 30 million fewer words than their counterparts in higher income households. In Georgia, more than half of children under age six live in low-income households. - The Georgia Department of Public Health; National Center for Children in Poverty

A post-secondary credential is required for employment in most of Georgia’s high demand careers, but half of Georgians aged 18-24 either did not complete high school or hold only a high school diploma or GED. - Governor’s High Demand Career Initiative; American Community Survey

More than two in five Georgia families do not have enough income to get by. - American Community Survey; The Economic Policy Institute

Out-of-pocket health care costs keep one in five adult Georgians from a needed medical visit. Deaths that could have been prevented with treatment are 25 percent higher in Georgia than the national average. - The Commonwealth Fund State Health System Ranking

At least one in five children at some point suffers from a serious mental disorder and more than four percent of adults have a serious mental illness in a given year. Left untreated, these increase the odds of academic failure and delinquency among youth and incarceration or homelessness among adults. While Georgia has made significant improvements in promoting access to care, more can be done. In 2010, the state’s per capita expenditures to prevent and treat mental illness were less than 40 percent of the national average. - National Institute of Mental Health; Kaiser State Health Facts

More than one in 13 adult Georgians has a criminal record and faces steep barriers to rehabilitation because that record precludes most opportunities for jobs, housing, education and public benefits. - The Pew Center for the States; American Bar Association National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Conviction

Georgia’s competitiveness in a global economy depends upon academic achievement. We know more about the factors critical to student success: engaged parents, safe and supportive communities, early childhood development, great teachers and administrators, personalized learning strategies, quality educational resources and responsive governance systems. United Way is committed to helping every child develop into a productive adult through community collaborations such as Ready by 21 and the StriveTogether Cradle-to-Career Network. We urge the governor and state lawmakers to:

• Expand access to quality home visitation, early learning and Georgia Pre-K to increase school readiness and grade-level reading, to detect and treat developmental and health problems and to support parents in caring for infants and young children.

• Develop and implement a new K-12 funding formula that promotes academic achievement in every community.

• Ensure that Georgia’s elected and appointed governance structures for K-12 education support high academic achievement.

• Utilize federal funding authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to re-engage disconnected youth – including those involved in the justice system, aging out of foster care or homeless – in educational programs that incorporate a career pathway.

• Align goals and resources with those of community collaborations in support of educational achievement to build collective impact.

• Make more need-based financial assistance available to Georgians to complete college or a post-secondary career credential.

• Promote the highest of the voluntary and nationally competitive state academic standards in K-12 education to support college and career readiness.

EDUCATION

Enactment of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) grants Georgia flexibility in helping youth and adults start or move up in a career pathway for which there is demand among local industries. The law promotes cross-system and cross-sector interventions to meet the social, educational and economic needs of adults and youth in greatest need, mirroring the approach taken by United Way. However, states must exercise options to maximize the impact of these in state WIOA plans. We urge the governor and state lawmakers to:

• Promote a no-wrong-door approach to service by incorporating other workforce programs into the state and regional WIOA plans as authorized by federal law.

• Take advantage of the authority granted by WIOA to develop incumbent and on-the-job worker programs like Atlanta CareerRise to provide the skills needed by in-demand industries and to create entry-level positions as incumbents move up the career ladder.

• Integrate public benefits and case management as authorized under WIOA to help program participants succeed.

• Provide training and transitional jobs, along with support services for vulnerable veterans, the long-term unemployed, the homeless, ex-offenders reentering the community and youth aging out of foster care to facilitate their economic independence.

• Utilize a two-generation approach to improve prospects by helping parents attain employment and ensuring their children receive high-quality early education and out-of-school time services.

• Use pay-for-performance contracts, also known as Social Impact Bonds, to the fullest extent authorized by WIOA to engage the know-how of the private and nonprofit sectors in delivering results.

• Incorporate a refundable low or earned income tax credit in any legislation to move Georgia’s revenue base toward consumption taxes in lieu of income taxes.

INCOME

While Georgia has improved on many measures, it slipped from number 35 to number 45 in the latest ranking of state health systems by The Commonwealth Fund. The measures dragging Georgia’s ranking down are: 1) lifestyle factors, such as higher rates of smoking and obesity, and 2) resources, such as insurance and sources of regular care or medical homes. Health status and infrastructure are important factors to economic development. We urge the governor and state lawmakers to:

• Adopt a Health Home Medicaid Plan Amendment or other waiver to promote services by community health workers and others charged with stabilizing Georgians with chronic health or behavioral health conditions at home and preventing avoidable hospitalizations.

• Leverage available federal funding to maximize insurance coverage and access to care among Georgians as well as to strengthen the capacity of hospitals and health care providers to serve every community.

• Make the continuum of crisis mental health services available to every county, along with readily accessible community services.

• Strengthen Georgia’s capacity to promote public health, prevent harmful health outcomes and respond to emergency and disaster.

• Implement tax or regulatory disincentives to the consumption of tobacco products and alternative nicotine products to reduce addiction, especially among youth.

HEALTH

While numbers are trending downward across Georgia, homelessness remains a challenge among three key groups: those seeking refuge from violence or abuse; youth aging out of the foster care or juvenile justice systems; and those affected by mental or addictive diseases who regularly cycle from the streets, shelters, emergency rooms, jails and state hospitals. Supportive housing is a cost-effective best practice that United Way has demonstrated and that is now being replicated in Georgia. We urge the governor and state lawmakers to:

• Build upon reentry strategies for juvenile and adult offenders such as the United Way Gwinnett Reentry Intervention Program (GRIP) by leveraging federal funding under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, public benefits, housing, transportation and related supports to decrease recidivism and chronic homelessness.

• Promote alternative models for the disclosure of criminal records and for relief from civil liability among employers, housing

providers and post-secondary institutions seeking to facilitate ex-offenders’ integration into family and

community.

• Replace one-time competitive grants with reliable sources of funding to implement community-based juvenile justice reform and local accountability courts among adult offenders.

• Ensure that children placed into foster care achieve permanency in a placement that supports their healthy development into adulthood.

• Fully fund supportive housing for people with mental illness pursuant to Georgia’s agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

• Double the number of family violence placements and provide support services so that all seeking help can be accommodated.

HOMELESSNESS

Across our state, families experiencing distress must often decide whether to pay for rent, utilities or food. Seniors must often choose between paying for heat or purchasing needed medications. Being able to meet basic needs like shelter, food and medical care helps individuals and families avoid spiraling into deeper and ongoing dependency. Last year, almost three-quarters of a million Georgians sought help through United Way’s 2-1-1 Contact Center. We urge the governor and state lawmakers to:

• Adopt appropriate policy and funding to expedite the enrollment or re-certification of Georgians in need of public benefits.

• Strengthen resources to detect and prevent elder abuse and provide more options to enable the aged and disabled to live at home.

• Partner with United Way’s 2-1-1 Contact Center whenever possible to expedite information and services among Georgians.

Today, charities and volunteers work across Georgia to promote the education of children and youth, train the workforce, deliver health care, end homelessness and provide for the basic needs of their neighbors. With their community-focused and solutions-oriented approach, charities and volunteers are essential partners to policymakers. We urge the governor and state lawmakers to:

• Meet state priorities by partnering with existing IRC 501 (c)(3) charities as facilitators.

• Utilize pay-for-performance contracts, also known as Social Impact Bonds, to leverage private investment and nonprofit expertise in addressing complex challenges.

• Implement incentives such as tax credits to stimulate giving or volunteering to meet priority objectives.

CHARITIES AND VOLUNTEERS

BASIC NEEDS

© 2015 United Way of Greater Atlanta | 011615 HW

To find or give help, dial 2-1-1.Outside metro Atlanta, dial 404.614.1000.

United Way of Greater Atlanta 100 Edgewood Ave., N.E. Atlanta, GA 30303 404.527.7200unitedwayatlanta.org

BECAUSE POLICYMAKERS ARE CRITICAL PARTNERS IN PROMOTING HEALTH, EDUCATION, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN SERVICES, UNITED WAY ACTIVELY ENGAGES IN PUBLIC POLICY.