Biological Family Support

A local county forms a community-level alliance that unites local providers in collaborative partnership and training on the 100 Families model in order to provide coordinated care for families in crisis. A local organization is selected who will hire a Community Coordinator to develop these partnerships and Family Advocates to engage and ensure families receive the services they need. 

In addition to community-wide collaborative partnerships, a care coordination software, known as HopeHub, provides a HIPAA, COPPA, and FERPA compliant way for all service providers to communicate efficiently, reducing duplication of services and increasing collaboration between clients and their providers.

Once launched, this model provides a coordinated way to support families in crisis.

Clients supported through this initiative can be referred through the child welfare department, through other community institutions like schools, courts, or homeless shelters, or through self-referrals. 

An affiliate agreement is signed by this new alliance, ensuring that the 100 Families model is run in full alignment with how it was designed by Restore Hope.

Yes, this initiative can be launched in communities across the U.S. and Canada, but since state-level leadership conversations and buy-in can take significant time and commitment, the easiest way to get involved is to partner in a state where the 100 Families Initiative already exists or has a planned launch: Arkansas, Louisiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Michigan, and Alberta Canada. 

If the 100 Families Initiative already exists in your state, you can connect with the Restore Hope team and begin advocating to launch it in your county through local and state government conversations. 

If you’re not in a state where 100 Families already exists, you can advocate for the initiative to begin in your state, by sharing about the 100 Families model with state leadership at the Governor's Office or child welfare office. Once you have interest from state leadership, you can connect with the Restore Hope team to explore possible next steps.

Vision Tours and demonstrations of the coordinated care software are recommended steps in this process and can be provided by the Restore Hope team. New states are asked to commit to an initial launch in three communities, with a three-year goal to launch in 12 communities.

This strategy requires a higher level of financial commitment from the state government and participating organizations and churches.

It costs approximately $300,000 per year for a community to launch and maintain this initiative. This cost includes several ongoing expenses, such as: 

• Staff Salaries - Staffing costs must be maintained for the 2-3 full-time staff members that are necessary to implement this model: Community Coordinator and 1-2 Family Advocates.
• Care Coordination Software - The cost to use the HOPEHUB software is typically about $12,000-$24,000 per county per year, depending on the cost-sharing agreement entered into with Restore Hope. 
• Training - The cost for the Restore Hope team to train and bring the model to your state is dependent on location and determined through discussion with the team. 

In order to bring 100 Families to a new state and/or identify new counties to implement in, buy-in from state directors for child welfare or human services is necessary. Local support from elected officials, government agencies, churches, and non-profit service providers is also essential.

Each county implementing the 100 Families Initiative needs 2-3 paid, full-time employees: Community Coordinator and 1-2 Family Advocates.

The Community Coordinator focuses their efforts on developing and maintaining partnerships throughout the community, building  a local alliance of professional providers to respond when a family is in crisis, overseeing the Family Advocates, and ensuring that the Family Advocates and all participating providers are following the collaborative model correctly. This full-time employee spends at least 20 hours per week doing community building and coordination-focused work.

Family Advocates work directly with families in crisis being served. They build support teams of providers and ensure that assessments are completed and progress is consistently tracked with families. Ideally, this role is full-time but can be part-time if needed. 

An organization, known as the backbone organization, needs to agree to offer essential support for the alliance by hiring and housing the Community Coordinator and Family Advocate(s) for their county. 

Lastly, service providers within the county also need to be involved in the coordinated care system via HopeHub.

The implementation step that requires the most amount of time is acquiring initial buy-in from state-level leadership (if your state does not currently have any 100 Families Initiatives). Vision Tours and demonstrations of the coordinated care software are recommended next steps in this process and can be provided by the Restore Hope team.

Once the initiative is approved and funded by state leadership, implementation moves much more quickly. Staff are hired and immediately can begin training. Families receiving support can begin enrolling during this training timeframe, which is around 3 months after initial funding and staffing. The full launch can occur 3-6 months from staff being onboarded.

Restore Hope offers extensive, hands-on support and training opportunities to communities implementing the 100 Families Initiative, including: 

• Support in building community partnerships and selection of local backbone organization 
• Training and mentorship for Community Coordinators and Family Advocates
• Technical assistance and training for HopeHub Collaborative Case Management system users
• Compliance and government program eligibility guidance
• Communications plans for outlining best practices and sharing stories of impact

No, Restore Hope is not a CAFO member organization.