Joining Forces for Families Honors Dane County Friends

November 18, 2005
David W Carlson, Public Relations Manager, Dane County Human Services, (608) 242-6424.
Badger Prairie

Several community organizations and a number of individuals who are helping build stronger Dane County families have been honored with Friends of Joining Forces for Families (JFF) awards. (A complete listing of all honorees and a brief description of what they were recognized for is attached) “The JFF initiative in Dane County has many heroes who do big things and small thing every day to help their neighbors,” said County Executive Kathleen Falk . “These are people who offer their skills, talents and problem solving abilities to help families survive and strive when they’re facing some major challenges,” said Falk. The Human Services Department’s JFF initiative was launched in 1993 with three community social workers assigned to three Madison neighborhoods to facilitate the development of community teams. The goal for the teams was to help identify and meet needs and problems of families on a voluntary basis. “Our JFF teams and partners are often able to resolve family situations in a way that helps families avoid crisis or formal involvement with our court or human services systems,” said Falk. “JFF helps families become stronger so they can help themselves.” JFF now has 14 human services department social workers placed in the community where they help facilitate 24 JFF teams. A JFF team typically consists of team members representing, police, school, public health, faith-based organizations and other community groups that have an interest in strengthening families. JFF is one of the largest community-based collaborations in the nation with over three hundred line professionals involved. ###