“Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless—like water… Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” — Bruce Lee
Intro: Seeing the work behind the water
In Week 10 of Cobb 101, we explored the RL Sutton Water Reclamation Facility and had the privilege of seeing the expertise and around-the-clock effort that goes into making sure we have clean water to drink.
It was a reminder that water doesn’t “just happen.” It takes planning, coordination, and professionals who treat reliability like a mission.
Water doesn’t “hope” it will flow. It’s designed to.
In Cobb County, water doesn’t move smoothly by accident. It flows because systems are built ahead of time to prevent friction—especially where one jurisdiction meets another.
That’s what intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) and service delivery agreements are for: clear, pre-negotiated ways for Cobb County and municipalities to coordinate responsibilities, service boundaries, and operations so residents don’t experience chaos every time a line gets crossed.
When the infrastructure is aligned, water can do what it’s supposed to do: flow.
Children’s information is treated differently—and the result is predictable
When it comes to children, we do the opposite. Instead of building shared systems in advance, we often wait until a crisis happens—then we try to “figure out” how to share information across:
· Schools
· Pediatric and behavioral health providers
· Juvenile courts
· Social services
· Law enforcement
· Community programs
And then we run into the wall. Information about children is tightly controlled by overlapping rules and gatekeepers:
· FERPA limits disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records without parent/eligible student consent (with limited exceptions).
· HIPAA restricts disclosure of protected health information except in specific permitted situations, and often requires authorization for many third-party disclosures.
· Parents/guardians may need to approve sharing.
· Local and state laws can add additional constraints.
In practice, that means the very data points that might signal a child is deteriorating—behavior changes, repeated incidents, escalating stressors—can be trapped in silos.
The hardest situation: when the gatekeeper is the problem
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: sometimes the person who must approve sharing information is the same person who doesn’t want the information shared.
In those cases, the system can stall for weeks or months while legal processes play out.
Meanwhile, the child doesn’t pause.
Their stress doesn’t pause.
Their risk doesn’t pause.
What if children’s information could flow like water—safely?
This isn’t a call to ignore privacy laws. It’s a call to build pre-agreed, child-centered pathways so the right information can reach the right people at the right time.
Cobb County’s water model offers a mindset:
· Agree in advance on how collaboration works.
· Define roles and boundaries before an emergency.
· Reduce friction at handoffs so service doesn’t break when jurisdictions change.
Now apply that to child wellbeing.
A “Like Water” model for child protection could include:
· Pre-established interagency agreements that define who can share what information, when, and under what conditions
· Clear definitions of “authorized individuals” and “need-to-know” access
· Standardized event categories (behavioral incidents, threats, repeated absences, welfare concerns) that trigger structured escalation
· Secure, auditable data-sharing methods that protect privacy while enabling continuity
· Fast pathways for urgent risk scenarios so help isn’t delayed by paperwork
The goal is simple: When a child’s mental state is being affected, the signals should not be trapped.
Water flows because we respect what happens when it doesn’t. When water can’t move, pressure builds. When children’s information can’t move, risk builds.
We already know how to design systems that cross boundaries. We do it for utilities. We do it for roads. We do it for stormwater.
We can do it for kids.
Closing: Be water—for children
Bruce Lee’s point wasn’t just poetry. It was strategy.
Water adapts, but it’s also engineered—channeled, supported, directed—so it can keep moving.
If we want safer, healthier outcomes for children, we need to stop relying on last-minute coordination and start building agreements and pathways in advance.
So when a child’s story changes—when the warning signs appear—information doesn’t crash into walls.
It flows.
Suggested next step
If you’re a school leader, agency leader, or community partner in Cobb County (or anywhere): start with one question:
“What information do we each hold that could prevent a child’s crisis—and what’s stopping it from flowing to the people who can act?”
Then build the agreement before the emergency.
Sources
· Cobb 101 Citizens Government Academy: https://www.cobbcounty.gov/communications/info-center/cobb-101-citizens-government-academy
· Cobb County + City of Mableton service delivery agreements discussion: https://www.cobbcounty.gov/news/cobb-county-mableton-city-leaders-discuss-service-delivery-agreements
· Cobb County intergovernmental coordination (planning division): https://www.cobbcounty.gov/community-development/planning-division/intergovernmental-coordination
· FERPA overview and consent requirement: U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office (Protecting Student Privacy) https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/ferpa
· HIPAA Privacy Rule summary: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/laws-regulations/index.html
https://qualitycenter.org/williedavis
