Joining Forces: A Report from the First Year

This report provides an overview of Joining Forces' first year and summarizes the substantive knowledge gained from cross-sector collaboration, in four sections. Section I discusses the background of the Joining Forces initiative. With an initial grant from the Ford Foundation, in late 1987, the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) launched the Joining Forces, a national effort to help the education and human service sectors work together to aid children and families at risk. Section II summarizes the deliberations of the Wingspread Conference held in May 1988. Particularly significant is this section's focus on the leadership of the education and human service communities discussing their shared commitment to children and families at risk and the amount of work that lies ahead as an expression of that commitment. Section III and a table included at the end of the report present a summary of the results of a survey sent to all state education and human service agencies in an effort to list the current state-level collaborative task force/committees, agreements, and initiatives and scan good examples of collaboration. Forty-eight states and territories responded. The survey and related data show a great deal of cooperative interagency planning. Section IV concludes the report with an overview of Joining Forces' future agenda--an action plan designed to broaden the base of cross-sector interagency planning. (JAM)