Throughout the country, in large cities and small rural areas, many communities and counties have formed collaboratives and begun initiatives to create more responsive services for children and families. While none has fully implemented a community-wide profamily system, their combined efforts suggest that effective service integration initiatives have several characteristics in common. School staff, along with personnel in other agencies, are involved in planning, operating, and governing the initiatives. Effective initiatives are rooted in the community and closely connected to state government, having the backing and involvement of those who use their services, those who provide them, and those who help pay for them. Effective initiatives experiment with designing and delivering needed services tailored to target populations or neighborhoods before expanding.
Effective initiatives are financially pragmatic, fully using existing resources.
External support is primarily used for planning and to provide enough financial stability to ensure that pilot efforts point toward systemwide policy changes. Many factors influence the success of interagency collaborations. No two collaboratives progress in exactly the same way or in the same time frame. In the final analysis, each interagency effort must proceed in a way that is consistent with its unique circumstances and composition. Involve all key players so that collaborative decisions and activities receive widespread support and recognition.