Case managers discovered that existing services didn't meet kids' needs, schools saw them as meddlers, not allies, and the collaboratives didn't have a strategy to address racism, which was a problem in both schools and services. But the case managers alerted New Futures leaders to problems and opportunities that shaped the next phase of the initiative. Those examples, and others, helped the collaboratives see that relationships, not services, were what helped low-income kids survive. Savannah and Little Rock decided to reorient their work to focus on strengthening relationships, neighborhood, and community, rather than just working in schools and reforming services. But they didn't abandon their systems reform focus, Don Crary notes.
Families have real needs, and systems have real money.
Within a year or two we were struggling in Little Rock. We began to feel that no matter how many services we provided, we were never going to change outcomes for a serious number of these kids. Our case managers began to bring us that message very early on. Their job was to refer young people to services, and from the beginning they weren't referring much. They found there wasn't much out there to refer kids to.