Gathering and Using Family Input to Improve Child Support and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Approaches from the Human Services Field

Human services agencies are finding great value of engaging the families they serve in designing programs. Doing this helps combat issues of access, quality, and equity and ensures the families’ needs are being met. This brief provides examples of human-centered design practices and how agencies use the input to inform policy and operations. Agencies engage families at five levels: inform, consult, involve, collaborate, and empower. Part of the process is building trust with the families so the families provide honest feedback.