Expert intermediaries: Family Resource Center staff approaches to resource navigation for low-income families

• In Event: Bridging the Gap: How Modern Street-Level Bureaucrats shape Administrative Burden and Citizen-State Interactions

Abstract

Family Resource Centers (FRCs) are community-based organizations (CBOs) that provide services and opportunities for young families. While many FRCs operate under frameworks that prioritize mobilizing families’ access to formal and informal resources, little is known about whether, and how, FRCs connect eligible families to safety net programs like Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. This study builds on a statewide evaluation of Wisconsin’s FRCs to highlight how and whether these CBOs facilitate low-income families’ access to the safety net. 

This study is motivated by research on street-level bureaucrats as integral to processes that restrict or facilitate families’ access to public safety net benefits. Lipsky (2010) argues that workers who function as intermediaries between clients and the government will use their discretion to take actions that they believe will promote institutional goals, within constraints. In Wisconsin, the institutional goals of FRCs are articulated using a “Family Support” perspective: a concept that centers advocacy, collaboration, and strength-based human service delivery to strengthen parent-child relationships. FRCs are prompted to align work around these goals and are guided by central principles including “work[ing] with families to mobilize formal and informal resources to support family development.” As a result, I hypothesize that FRCs will facilitate families’ access to the safety net as long as they perceive that doing so would support their goal of improving family well-being. 

The evaluation team has begun focus groups and interviews with FRC staff. Questions prompt FRC staff to articulate several aspects of their practice including their experiences with and approaches to resource facilitation. These questions prompt FRC staff to share their approaches helping families access public safety net programs, resources from local charitable organizations, internal resources (such as diaper banks housed at the FRC), and gifts from private businesses. After interviews are complete, the research team will begin thematic analyses of focus group interview data. We will use inductive coding strategies to identify themes related to resource navigation. 

By examining FRC staff perspectives on, and experiences, with resource facilitation, this study reveals how localized knowledge around community needs and available public programs translate into practices that facilitate families’ access to child care, healthcare, diapers, food, and other essentials. It also reveals the extent that FRCs prioritize access to public programs as part of a service delivery model that includes a variety of internal practices and community partnerships. I anticipate the results will yield several policy-relevant insights; this includes the extent of FRCs’ capacity to lessen safety net program non-participation among eligible families by bridging knowledge gaps and building trust. It will also highlight localized knowledge around the efficacy of safety net programs in meeting community resource needs. Lastly, it will strengthen our understanding of how CBOs manage the task of supporting families within and outside of public policy infrastructure.

Author

• Anna Walther, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  Presenting Author