The Supporting Coordinated Benefits Delivery to Foster Whole Family Approaches project (“Whole Families”) is an 18-month project funded by the Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary (IOAS) of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACF launched the Whole Families project to support jurisdictions in improving families’ experience when they seek services or benefits from multiple public benefit programs. Service coordination aims to address the complex, interconnected challenges faced by children and families by intentionally aligning multiple services or benefits, with the goal of improving outcomes and reducing structural barriers to participation. The project aims to build on existing toolkits, roadmaps, and reports, to create a Resource for state and local program administrators to improve the experience of families who seek services or benefits from multiple public benefit programs. The project team will develop the Resource with input from administrators, benefits coordination and integration experts, and individuals with lived experience participating in public benefits programs. The team will conduct 8 pilots of the Resource and refine it based on learnings over the pilot period. The project will also develop recommendations for delivery models to further scale and implement the Resource in other states and localities. MEF is leading this work, with partners at Urban Institute and Adjacent Possible.
