Gathering and Using Family Input to Improve Child Support and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Services: Approaches from the Human Services Field
OPRE Report #2022-177
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Associated Project
TANF and Child Support Moving Forward: Further Incorporating Family Input
Prepared for:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation
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Key Findings
Human services leaders and staff can effectively engage families in program improvement when they:
- Establish the goals and scale of the planned program improvement effort and align and tailor family engagement approaches accordingly.
- Close the feedback loop with families by following up and sharing how their input was used.
- Proactively build and maintain trust with families and provide the supports they need to fully and authentically participate in program improvement.
Human services programs, including TANF and child support, vary widely in how they engage families in their program improvement efforts. Using insights from discussions with state, local, and Tribal leaders and a scan of academic and nonacademic literature, this brief summarizes how human services programs gather and use family input. It describes the variation in time commitment, number of families engaged, and the amount of decision-making power families have in different program improvement initiatives. It provides examples of how and for what purpose programs engaged families for their input, including from Colorado, Ohio, and the Quinault Indian Nation. The brief discusses how programs can build trust with families and offers considerations for program leaders and staff who want to engage with families for their feedback in a program improvement process.
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