Head Start Open Enrollment

Accepting 2020 -2021

CAFI Head Start is offered in Carroll, Coweta, and Heard Counties for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old, including children with disabilities.  

If you are interested, please call 706-884-2651.

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The pandemic has caused an increase in mental health problems, addiction and domestic abuse.   These are some resources to help:

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center - http://www.sprc.org/ - Comprehensive suicide and mental health resource. Features a comprehensive resource guide  http://www.sprc.org/covid19 on mental health and coping with the effects of COVID-19.

Safe Horizon - https://www.safehorizon.org/ - A 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides help and guidance for victims of sexual assault and trauma. They provide resources for those who have suffered from domestic abuse, child abuse, rape or sexual assault, human trafficking, stalking, and more. 

The Crisis Text Line - Serves anyone, in any type of crisis, providing access to free, 24/7 support and information via texting. Text START to 741-741 from anywhere in the USA, anytime, about any type of crisis. 

Georgia Crisis & Access Line
1-800-715-4225

Peer2Peer Warm Line
1-888-945-1414

GA CARES Warm Line
1-844-326-5400

Detox Local - Guide to finding a trustworthy drug detox program   https://www.detoxlocal.com/drug-detox/finding-best-programs/

Overdose Prevention Guide - Comprehensive article that features 30 different overdose prevention resources, as well as drug-specific overdose signs and symptoms. https://thesummitwellnessgroup.com/resources/overdose-prevention/

Please select the Community Resources tab for updated community information.

JOB OPENINGS AT CAFI

Please select the Get Involved tab, and then Career, to view open positions.

Thank you!

Three Rivers Welding Corrections Facility Program

As the nation strives towards recovery from the devastating impacts of COVID-19, workforce development strategies have been an important approach for many areas that face widespread job and business losses. For several years, the Three Rivers Welding Corrections Facility Program has been a successful (and replicable) workforce initiative led by the Three Rivers Regional Commission of west-central Georgia that delivers a welding training and certification program in county corrections facilities. By bolstering the region’s workforce and also helping to reduce recidivism rates, the program meets many of the goals identified in the region’s CEDS, including attracting and retaining a skilled workforce and increasing job availability by matching skills needed by employers to local workers.

Around five years ago, staff from Three Rivers recognized that much of their workforce funding was directed towards credit programs from local technical colleges that offered training for employable skills.  Three Rivers reached out to West Georgia Technical College and other technical colleges in the region with the purpose of supporting a new workforce opportunity that would target hard-to-serve populations in the area. The result of these conversations and additional planning meetings was the creation of the Three Rivers Corrections Facility Welding Program that would deliver training and certification to incarcerated adults in West Central Georgia prisons.  This initiative was inspired in part by a smaller, short-term welding program that had been fairly successful in the region.

Three Rivers supplies funding for the program through a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grant, along with case management under the WorkSource Three Rivers system to track progress towards certification and employment.  West Georgia Tech built a welding lab at the Carroll County Prison with funding from Three Rivers. It also supplies the welding teachers, equipment, and certification procedure.  Participants are recommended by counselors in the prison, who evaluate each inmate and refer individuals based on their behavior, interest in training, and release date.  Early on, Three Rivers brought in groups of local employers who were interested in hiring skilled, certified welders - regardless of their backgrounds - leading to employment opportunities for the graduates of the program. Three Rivers case managers check in with participants for two years after their release to ensure that they still have their certification, have found employment, and are not re-incarcerated.  If any released participant is unable to find employment, Three Rivers and West Georgia Tech spring into action to find an employer and troubleshoot any problems, such as access to transportation.

Since 2016, the program has served over 100 inmates; so far, 77% of participants have received certification and 96% of released participants have obtained employment. Three Rivers and the Technical College System of Georgia have been able to scale up the program with the creation of  mobile welding labs that can be driven to many different correctional facilities in the region and across the state of Georgia, rather than relying on one stationary location. The mobile lab lowers costs of the program and expands the reach throughout the west-central Georgia region. Additionally, Southern Crescent Technical College has joined the partnership, also offering welding training and certification to inmates in the region with funding and case management from Three Rivers. The program was featured in the Governor’s State of the State Address in 2018 and other workforce organizations in Georgia have recently begun working to emulate this program in their own regions.  The program is expensive relative to other workforce programs, simply due to the costs of materials and the instructors’ time. However, the Three Rivers’ case management system ensures that every dollar is bringing in an excellent return-on-investment in the form of a more skilled and employable workforce for the region.

Three Rivers staff are currently looking for more local partners that can help to grow the program even further. On the list of potential partners are various agencies from the State of Georgia, local Chambers of Commerce, Councils of Government, elected officials, and local recidivism organizations. Other ideas for the future include Three Rivers creating its own mobile welding lab to be used in other workforce programs, or to grow the Corrections Facility Welding program into one that covers industrial maintenance training as well.
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One reason this program has been so successful is its ability to blend goals and strategies from the region’s CEDS with other social and economic outcomes: it supports attracting and retaining a skilled workforce, and it also lowers recidivism rates; the program matches local employers’ needs with workers’ skills, and it also provides opportunities to a severely challenged and historically under-served population. Overall, the Three Rivers Corrections Facility Welding Program demonstrates how a regional development organization can collaborate with key partners to establish a workforce program that has a range of social and economic benefits and makes the region more competitive and resilient.

For more information please click on this link:  https://www.cedscentral.com/ceds-in-action.html