Families engaged in social service systems frequently have multiple and complex service needs. Service providers should seek to determine and address underlying family issues in order to increase the responsiveness and effectiveness of their services. Typically, human services programs are oriented toward ensuring program eligibility and compliance, rather than on helping families solve problems. Providing families with individualized assessments, case management, and supportive services-the elements of a family-centered approach-may cost individual programs more than a limited, program-specific focus on eligibility determinations and benefit issuance. ^[1]   However, investing in these elements can help families receive the services they need to move toward long-term self-sufficiency and safety. State-level or other boundary-spanning policymakers should seek to promote efficiencies and conserve resources across the board by determining goals that make sense across multiple agencies.

By conducting an individualized assessment of the family's service needs, human services programs can strengthen their capacity to identify and solve problems and to provide more tailored services to families. An individualized assessment can be formal and comprehensive, or more informal and limited in scope, depending upon the program's resources and the purpose of the assessment. A formal assessment should be conducted by specialized staff; should identify and address family circumstances, strengths, and service needs; and should lead to a customized service plan. A comprehensive assessment can be designed for use by multiple programs.

When a program does not have the resources to conduct a formal assessment of every family that enters its caseload, the program should increase its case-sorting capacity to target resources on families struggling with multiple problems. The program also can create specialized units to address specific issues such as domestic violence, kinship care (placement of children with relatives), or parental incarceration. At a minimum, the agency should ask program applicants directly about their family members, what brought them to the agency, what they need to stabilize their family and move forward, and how they prioritize their own service needs. Families should be made aware of the reasons they are being asked for information, the extent to which information is shared with others, what they can expect from the process, and what choices they have.

In developing a service plan, program staff should (to the extent feasible) consult with family members, offer options, and involve families in decision-making. Frequent engagement with program staff can help isolated families "stay in touch with society." ^[2]   However, finding effective ways to work with family members can be challenging for any agency. ^[3]   Providers can try to bridge such gaps by creating linkages to other programs which can help them reach family members who are not typically seen by the program, such as non-custodial parents and vulnerable teens. Further, existing programs often can expand and refocus the services they offer, finding additional ways to provide practical help before problems become unmanageable.

Policymakers and program administrators should understand the competing demands that different services, however necessary and appropriate, may place on families. The evidence suggests that severe sanctions do not necessarily increase compliance and that sanctions tend to be disproportionately imposed on the most disadvantaged families; better strategies can be employed to improve program participation and efficacy. ^[4]   Service providers should facilitate compliance with service plans, and keep individuals and families engaged, by coordinating and consolidating program requirements; providing clear, direct information about what to expect and the consequences of non-compliance; explaining program rules more than once; reminding program participants of appointments and deadlines and following up when these are missed; providing child care; and identifying barriers to compliance. These steps, combined with careful staff training and frequent interactions between staff and families, will enable family services providers to create a receptive, non-judgmental environment that holds families accountable while encouraging disclosure and problem-solving.

It can be difficult for family services agencies to shift funding priorities to allocate limited resources to an expanded set of services or to strike the right balance between flexibility and equity as they use their discretion to provide customized services. By moving toward a family-centered service delivery system, however, agencies can help address underlying family and problems and decrease long-term use of public assistance.