Project Description:
Colorado Family Support 360, also known as Colorado 360, will build upon the current infrastructure of the Denver Department of Human Services-Colorado Works (TANF) program, Denver County workforce system and the local developmental disabilities services system. JFK Partners, the University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, will partner with the Denver Department of Human Services, the Mayor's Office of Workforce Development and Denver Options to offer integrated services and supports that will improve access to programs and increase the capacity of the delivery of supports specific to the needs of families receiving TANF who have a child with a developmental disability.
Barriers to self-sufficiency for parents who are caring for a child or adult member with a developmental disability go beyond traditional reasons for why a TANF recipient struggles to obtain self-sufficiency. Focus groups conducted by JFK Partners of families in the Colorado Works-TANF program who have a child with a disability, identified that these families struggle to navigate services and supports. They are frequently expected to master a system that is not only fragmented but fraught with unfamiliar rules and regulations that are difficult to understand. Many of these families expressed feelings of despair, isolation and hopelessness. Colorado 360? acknowledges that the cornerstone of an effective family support system is families and their ability to play a valued role in the decision-making process.
Colorado 360 will create a Family Support Navigator (FSN) model, designed based on the JFK/WIN Partners Consumer Navigator model that has been adopted by the Department of Labor and the Social Security Administration. Family Support Navigators will provide ongoing comprehensive training and mentoring to TANF case managers, and support to families who are on TANF. Other resources will include facilitating access to mental health professionals, ongoing parent training, resource and referral, technical assistance for difficult case reviews, parent support networks at the main Denver Human Services hub and two satellite locations, advocacy with the public school system, advocacy for inclusive child care for children with developmental disabilities and on-going follow along to help families meet desired outcomes.
Implementation of the model will lead to improved families' perception of quality of life and health/well being. Through Colorado 360 services, children with developmental disabilities will experience fewer suspensions/expulsions from school and child care, families of children with developmental disabilities will decrease requests for TANF extensions and incur fewer sanctions, children will miss fewer days of school and parents who are employed will miss fewer days of work. In addition to improved family outcomes, the model will fully and persistently be implemented across the three systems, shifting the approach to incorporate a focus on the family?s holistic needs.
Colorado 360 will be structured and designed for statewide replication, creating the model at six different sites statewide during the grant period. Staff will make presentations at 12 conferences throughout the life of the grant, create a dissemination manual and work closely with partners to create statewide policies that foster replication.
Keyword(s):
family support 360, TANF, family support navigators, integrated svc plans
Core Function(s):
Performing Technical Assistance and/or Training, Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information
Area of Emphasis
Quality Assurance, Education & Early Intervention, Child Care-Related Activities, Health-Related Activities, Employment-Related Activities, Housing-Related Activities, Transportation-Related Activities, Other - Cultural Diversity
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN, Legislators/Policy Makers
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Geographic Areas, Empowerment Zone, Specific Groups
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
State
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
