service continuum family by family

[David Stuart Crampton <dsjc@xxxxxxxxx>]

I am working on an evaluation of a program that offers voluntary in home
services to families who do not legally qualify for CPS intervention (they
are not investigated or if they are, their case is not substantiated).

It probably comes as no surprise to you all that since the services were
put in place, calls to CPS have increased dramatically, many are
self-referrals from families who want the service.  Of course the demand
for services is creating a budget crunch and frustration expressed by the
funders about whether the families are best served in this way or whether
they are more appropriate for community mental health, public social
services, private social services, or something else. This frustration
leads to the question: are all the human service providers essentially
serving "the same families"?  Is money wasted giving families inadequate
help over and over?

We have pretty good data on the families served by this program and the
referrals that are made elsewhere, but don't have a lot of information
about where they may have received services in the past or what they might
use in the future.  

We are faced with the question of whether we can map the whole service
continuum family by family to better understand the perceived
inefficiencies in service delivery.  Has anyone done something like this?
How did you address confidentiality across systems?  Did you use a point
in time sample or did you attempt a cohort study?  Any qualitative
studies that asked families how they access services?  Any advice would be
appreciated.  Thank you.