Facilitating Community Change. A Case Study of Marin City Families First.

This report documents the development and progress of Marin City Families First (MCFF), a project undertaken in Marin City (California) in 1993 by the Far West Laboratory's (FWL) Center for Child and Family Studies. Its goal was to develop a model comprehensive child and family support system for low-income communities. In pursuing its objective of establishing an advocacy and case management system for Marin City residents and young children and establishing decision-making links among community agencies and networks, the intervention followed principles and collaboration strategies developed by the FWL in its previous work. FWL researchers encountered a unique mix of elements in Marin City that exerted a strong influence on the intervention. The case study communicates the MCFF researchers' experience as a community change agent in the complex Marin City environment and explores the variables that limit the impact of the intervention strategy. It recommends approaches to several key community and agency issues, including shifting funding sources, dysfunction among social service agencies, and training for staff working in a severely impoverished community with fundamental social problems. Appendix A is a chart of Families First services, and Appendix B is a lengthy table of evaluation results. (Contains 30 references.) (Author/SLD)