Coordinating Integrated Prevention Approaches to Serve the Whole Person
Evidence | Publications

Coordinating Integrated Prevention Approaches to Serve the Whole Person

Case Studies in Supporting Prevention Through Human Services Program Integration
Published: Oct 01, 2024
Publisher: U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
Human Services Family Support Child Welfare TANF and Employment Issues Federal
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Authors

Alex Coccia

Alexandra Citrin

Esi Hutchful

Scott Baumgartner

Sarah Campbell

Key Findings
  • Recognizing and addressing the ways that government systems had negatively affected the families they served was foundational to sites’ prevention and integration approaches. Six sites used a participant-centered case management or navigation approach to build trust with families, deliver services aligned with their goals, and coordinate care.
  • Well-being and protective factors were a focus of sites’ program assessments. The assessments incorporated multiple aspects of program participants’ well-being, including health, family functioning, economic security, and connection to culture and community.
  • Integrating programs and services enabled sites to focus on the early identification and anticipation of individuals’ and families’ needs. To forge successful partnerships between service providers, sites worked to establish a shared vision for service integration and practiced frequent, open communication.
  • Sites were able to address participants’ immediate needs equitably and effectively by using flexible and responsive implementation models, such as a no-wrong-door approach to service enrollment and by providing direct cash assistance and concrete supports.
Supporting families and individuals means understanding that their needs are complex, interrelated, and affected by the particular opportunities available in their communities. Integrated service approaches to prevent homelessness or involvement in systems like child welfare may be best positioned to succeed when they recognize these holistic needs and identities and when they coordinate access to resources and services. This brief highlights the efforts made by select programs to coordinate services and supports for program participants by focusing on their holistic needs, including how sites identified their participants’ strengths and needs and how the sites integrated services to be responsive to those needs. The findings are based on interviews with staff and partners from nine case studies sites across the country and with people who have been served by these programs.

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