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FEATURED PROJECT: Service Collaboration

Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and Department of Public Social Services (DPSS)

The Challenge: To move two separate, enormous bureaucracies, each with a unique mission and culture, toward working collaboratively to serve shared clients more effectively. This required a vast culture change, a common vision, a clear pathway and a tightly integrated leadership team.

The Solution:  Designed and implemented an initiative to coordinate services between the two agencies.  Created a core inter-agency leadership team, developed joint protocols, established unprecedented interdepartmental web site, designed and delivered integrated training to nearly 3,000 L.A. county child welfare and public assistance staff.

The Result: Through this service collaboration, more children remained with their families, more parents participated in work activities and more staff effectively met the needs of their clients by sharing expertise and resources.

Sample Product: A communications highlight of the Linkages project is an internal, inter-agency website. View Linkages website.