This paper reports on several projects conducted in Georgia over the past 2 years that move the development of respite care services toward the goal of becoming a "cooperative, collaborative, and coordinated" effort. An overview of respite care in Georgia is provided as well as a summary of strategies used to provide such care. Emerging principles, directions, issues, and guidelines are identified, and the present provision of services primarily by area-based developmental services programs is noted. The networking and cooperative strategies that have occurred at three levels (county, metropolitan, and statewide) are summarized, and 10 guiding principles are described. They include respite care as a community wide need, the involvement of families and caregivers in the planning and delivery of services, the development of community ownership of respite needs services, and respite care as providing benefits for everyone involved. A few pointers for others are offered; they include the impossibility of forcing networking, the importance of family involvement for maintaining common ground, and the value of starting small. Also included is a summary of results of a 1988 survey of 30 Georgia program offices; insufficient funds was the most frequently cited problem and the provision of services to clients with severe medical problems was cited as the most difficult need to meet. (DB)