Project Overview

The Supporting Coordinated Benefits Delivery to Foster Whole-Family Approaches project (“Whole Families”) was an 18-month project funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACF launched the Whole Families project in 2024 to support jurisdictions in improving the experiences that families have when they seek services or benefits from multiple public benefit programs. Coordination and integration across agencies and programs can help address the complex challenges faced by children and families by intentionally aligning multiple processes, services, or programs, with the goal of reducing structural barriers to participation in order to improve outcomes.

The Whole Families project was led by MEF Associates in partnership with Urban Institute and The Adjacent Possible. Over the project period, we:

1. Developed the Coordinating to Improve Family Experiences Toolkit: Resources for State and Local Human Services Agencies for program administrators, building on existing toolkits, roadmaps, reports, and other resources to support planning for and advancing human services program coordination and integration, with the goal of improving the experiences of families who can benefit from these services (click here to download the complete Toolkit (.zip); you can also explore modules below), and
2. Provided tailored coaching to seven sites to pilot the Toolkit and advance their coordination and integration efforts.

Coordinating to Improve Family Experiences Toolkit: Resources for State and Local Human Services Agencies

Watch a recorded webinar introducing the Toolkit and highlighting how you can use it.

The Toolkit is meant to support state and local human services agencies. It focuses on addressing the needs of whole families by linking, aligning, coordinating, and integrating services for children and their families with the goal of improving family experiences, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of programs, and maximizing program impact.

• Introduction to the Toolkit. Understand the goals and organization of the Toolkit and consider where to begin in your exploration of Toolkit modules.
• Module 1: Establishing a Vision and Direction for Coordination. Clarify your vision for whole-family services, identify pain points families and staff experience with current processes, and develop a problem statement that could be addressed through coordination.
• Module 2: Guide to Identifying Coordination Strategies. Identify coordination strategies that may resolve the program pain points that families and staff are experiencing.
• Module 3: Coordination Strategy Resources. Learn more about implementation considerations and identify resources and examples to support implementation of coordination strategies. The strategies in this module are drawn from a comprehensive scan of existing resources and examples of coordination efforts by human services agencies, focusing on the most actionable and accessible resources to inform the work of human services coordination leaders.
• Module 4: Coordination Best Practices and Capacity Building. Learn more common practices of successful coordination efforts and identify resources to support capacity building for implementing coordination efforts.
• Module 5: Monitoring Coordination Efforts and Continuous Improvement. Select metrics to monitor the implementation of coordination strategies and build on coordination successes to improve families’ outcomes and experiences.

Facilitator Guide and Supplemental Resources

The Toolkit is accompanied by a Facilitator’s Guide and Supplemental Resources, which includes guidance for supporting teams though their use of the Toolkit and optional supplemental activities to meet specific team needs, as well as worksheets to support teams as they engage with the Toolkit content. 

• Worksheet 1: Family Experience Reflection
• Worksheet 2: Defining a Shared Vision
• Worksheet 3: Journey Mapping
• Worksheet 4: Five Whys
• Worksheet 5: Program Action Map
• Worksheet 6: Choose and Prioritize Strategies
• Worksheet 7: Strategy Implementation Roadmap
• Worksheet 8: Metric Development Planning

Lessons from the Pilot

The project team collected the following key lessons learned throughout our work piloting the toolkit with seven sites. These takeaways helped inform coaching as well as Toolkit development and revisions, and they can inform other coordination efforts.

• Including relevant parties and identifying a lead are critical pieces of the puzzle. Engaging leadership staff, frontline staff, and program participants, and identifying a leader from the start, can help establish a shared understanding, identify goals, and get buy-in.

• Building consensus and getting buy-in for a shared vision requires dedicated time early on. Site teams faced challenges aligning on a shared vision and getting buy-in. Intentional time is needed early on to explore ideas and reach a consensus across partners.

• Toolkit resources and structured activities helped sites identify pain points and potential strategies for implementation. Clear frameworks, like process mapping, were valuable in helping teams understand complexities and build trust.

• The guidance and structure provided by facilitators throughout the pilot played a central role in sites’ use of the Toolkit and advancement toward coordination goals. The facilitation role was a key driver of site teams’ progress and helped provide structure and guidance in their coordination and integration efforts and use of the Toolkit.

• Connecting with other sites doing coordination work offered meaningful opportunities for sites to share experiences and learn from one another. Site teams valued peer learning sessions where they connected with other sites to share their progress, resources, challenges, and successes.

Additional details on the pilot and development of the Toolkit can be found in the project’s final report: Supporting Coordinated Benefits Delivery to Foster Whole-Family Approaches: Developing and Piloting a Toolkit for State and Local Agencies

Interested in exploring how the Toolkit and our customized coaching can support whole-family benefits coordination efforts in your state or jurisdiction? Reach out to schedule a free consultation with our experts today.

Publications

• Coordinating to Improve Family Experiences Toolkit (ZIP) 
• Introduction to the Toolkit 
• Module 1: Establishing a Vision and Direction for Coordination 
• Module 2: Guide to Identifying Coordination Strategies 
• Module 3: Coordination Strategies and Supporting Resources 
• Module 4: Coordination Best Practices and Capacity Building 
• Module 5: Monitoring Coordination Efforts and Continuous Improvement 
• Facilitator Guide and Supplemental Resources with Worksheets (ZIP) 
• Facilitator Guide and Supplemental Resources 
• Worksheet 1: Family Experience Reflection 
• Worksheet 2: Defining a Shared Vision 
• Worksheet 3: Journey Mapping 
• Worksheet 4: Five Whys 
• Worksheet 5: Program Action Map 
• Worksheet 6: Choose and Prioritize Strategies 
• Worksheet 7: Strategy Implementation Roadmap 
• Worksheet 8: Metric Development Planning 
• Final Report: Supporting Coordinated Benefits Delivery to Foster Whole-Family Approaches: Developing and Piloting a Toolkit for State and Local Agencies