Peer-reviewed article

How Would You Do it? Using Community Cafes to Inform Co-Design of Community Response Programs?

María Gandarilla Ocampo, Leanne L. Heaton, Oriana Johnson Leach, Mallory VanMeeter, Kaya West · 27 Jun 2026

Abstract

Increasingly, communities across the U.S. are looking to prevent families from unnecessary involvement with the child welfare system. Community-based participatory research methods, like community cafés, offer a framework for developing solutions in partnership with groups impacted by the child welfare system. The present study, which is part of a larger child welfare prevention demonstration project, is among the first to use community cafés with families and mandated reporters to inform the design of a community response program. Evaluators worked with local partners to host eleven community cafés in three states, mainly in rural areas. Conversations centered on the need for voluntary, tailored, and affirming support for families. Participants living in rural areas emphasized the unique service barriers impacting families in their communities. These collective insights from families and mandated reporters shine a light on opportunities to improve community response programs, including meeting the needs of families in rural areas.