Current state
Business as usual
Doors 7
Retellings 9
Forms 6
days 47
Needs met 3/8
8 indignities experienced Detailed by stage in the journey below.
DCHS Insights CX Human-Centered Design @ DCHS PROTOTYPE no real data DCHS Insights CX Janice Brown
Future state
With service integration
Doors 2
Retellings 1
Forms 1
days 6
Needs met 7/8
2 indignities remain Structural constraints are still visible.
Counts, timings, and emotion scores are illustrative assumptions, not workshop measurements. Days refer to first stable service, not the whole journey; service access does not mean every long-term goal is secured.
Profile
Janice Brown
Housing insecurity and fragmented services complicate one mother's efforts to find stability and reunite with her children.
Persona type Individual, age 38
Engagement path Crisis entry, multiple referrals
Persona narrative
Who they are
Janice Brown, 38, is a single mother of four whose children are currently in kinship care. Unhoused after leaving a violent home, she lives in a safe house and is unemployed, with prior experience in retail customer service. Safety, housing, food and benefits, behavioral health, work, and reunification need attention together. She draws strength from her love for her children and support from kinship and family caregivers. She wants a stable job, a safe home with her children, and opportunities for them to attend college. Janice continues seeking help despite exhausting application and appointment processes. Caring workers and small signs of progress give her hope, but repeated storytelling, colliding appointments, and separate plans make that progress difficult to sustain. Housing remains an important part of planning for reunification.
Voice
In their words
I already told somebody this.
I can do the appointments. I cannot do them all at once.
If housing is the thing everything depends on, why is it the last thing moving?
What they are good at
- Protective parent who acted under pressure
- Persists through lengthy applications and repeated appointments
- Clear about what she can and cannot manage
- Prior retail customer-service experience
- Support from kinship and family caregivers
What they are carrying
- Safety after leaving a violent home
- Housing that affects reunification
- Food, benefits, and behavioral health needs arriving at the same time
- Four children in kinship care while she works toward reunification
- Unemployment and the need for work that fits around services and family needs
What they hope for
- A safe place that does not expire before the next step is ready
- To stop narrating the worst night to new strangers
- Reunification that is not blocked by invisible dependencies
- A stable job and a safe home with her children
- Opportunities for her children to attend college
What they would never volunteer
- Details of domestic violence in a lobby or to someone who cannot explain why they need it
- Overlapping appointments and program deadlines can make attendance impossible even when she is actively trying to comply
- How close she is to giving up on separate plans
Business as usual
Business as usual
The current experience across six stages, including its human cost and the indignities created along the way.
Stage
1. Crisis / Entry
crisis and separation
crisis and separation
2. Immediate Needs
safety first
safety first
3. Service Connection
the story again
the story again
4. Service Delivery
separate clocks
separate clocks
5. Progress & Monitoring
hope needs continuity
hope needs continuity
6. Stability & Transition
planning beyond the safe house
planning beyond the safe house
What happens
A CPS hotline report and domestic-violence crisis bring Janice into services. Her children enter kinship care, court and custody changes begin, and she receives a DV referral.
A safe house, safety assessment, and emergency support. DV and child-welfare workers are assigned, but Janice struggles to understand separate processes and when she can see her children.
Referrals reach a housing locator, economic support, behavioral health, and the Workforce Development Center (WDC). Separate workers ask her to repeat the story; caring individuals offer moments of trust.
Benefits applications, a WDC case manager, and support services begin moving. Documentation issues, delays, and separate schedules still leave Janice managing conflicting appointments.
DV and behavioral-health services, parenting support, and progress tracking create signs of improvement. Janice feels hopeful about reunification, but guilt, family needs, and separate plans leave progress vulnerable to setbacks.
DV and case-management exit planning and community referrals begin. Stable housing, work, and continuing support are still needed to sustain progress toward reunification.
Where
CPS hotline / court / DV referral
Safe house / DV and child-welfare workers
Housing / benefits / behavioral health / WDC
Program offices
DV / behavioral health / parenting support
Exit planning / housing / community referrals
Feeling
Scared, ashamed, separated
Safer, still overwhelmed
Exhausted, with moments of trust
Some relief, still stretched
Hopeful, but progress feels fragile
Cautiously hopeful
Cost
Limited money and legal support during a family crisis
Support is present; the next steps are hard to connect
9 retellings across 7 doors
Conflicting appointments and forms
She still carries the connections between separate plans
47 days to first stable service; longer-term goals remain open
Indignities
Experience
Business as usual vs Integrated
Business as usual Integrated
How coordinated service delivery changes the same six-stage experience while keeping unresolved constraints visible.
Stage
1. Crisis / Entry
crisis and separation
crisis and separation
2. Immediate Needs
safety first
safety first
3. Service Connection
the story again
the story again
4. Service Delivery
separate clocks
separate clocks
5. Progress & Monitoring
hope needs continuity
hope needs continuity
6. Stability & Transition
planning beyond the safe house
planning beyond the safe house
Business as usual
Scared, ashamed, separated
A CPS hotline report and domestic-violence crisis bring Janice into services. Her children enter kinship care, court and custody changes begin, and she receives a DV referral.
Safer, still overwhelmed
A safe house, safety assessment, and emergency support. DV and child-welfare workers are assigned, but Janice struggles to understand separate processes and when she can see her children.
Exhausted, with moments of trust
Referrals reach a housing locator, economic support, behavioral health, and the Workforce Development Center (WDC). Separate workers ask her to repeat the story; caring individuals offer moments of trust.
Some relief, still stretched
Benefits applications, a WDC case manager, and support services begin moving. Documentation issues, delays, and separate schedules still leave Janice managing conflicting appointments.
Hopeful, but progress feels fragile
DV and behavioral-health services, parenting support, and progress tracking create signs of improvement. Janice feels hopeful about reunification, but guilt, family needs, and separate plans leave progress vulnerable to setbacks.
Cautiously hopeful
DV and case-management exit planning and community referrals begin. Stable housing, work, and continuing support are still needed to sustain progress toward reunification.
Integrated
Still scared, but oriented
The same crisis and child-welfare process require urgent safety action. Workers coordinate the first safe contact and explain what happens next; detailed screening waits until she is ready.
Met
Safety and stabilization still come first. When she is ready, workers arrange one consent-based intake for shareable information and explain the next steps together.
Heard
Warm handoffs connect housing, benefits, behavioral health, WDC, and child welfare around one plan. With consent, shareable facts travel so each referral does not restart the story.
Manageable
The same services are coordinated: workers reuse permitted documentation and sequence benefits, workforce, treatment, and parenting appointments around each other.
Supported
Workers connect existing progress tracking in one consented view, coordinate parenting and treatment support, and follow up after a missed appointment before considering closure.
Moving with support
Housing is prioritized within a coordinated transition plan linking work, child welfare, and community support. Handoffs have owners and follow-up; housing and reunification still require continued work.
Indignities
Removed 1
Remaining 1
Removed 1
Remaining 1
Removed 3
Remaining 0
noneRemoved 2
Remaining 0
noneRemoved 0
noneRemaining 2
Removed 0
noneRemaining 2
Change
Shift
Limited money and legal support during a family crisis -> Safety and a clear next step before detailed screening
Shift
Support is present; the next steps are hard to connect -> A paced intake and one explanation of the next steps
Shift
9 retellings across 7 doors -> One shared account; required program questions remain
Shift
Conflicting appointments and forms -> Fewer collisions, fewer forms
Shift
She still carries the connections between separate plans -> Setbacks prompt outreach and a coordinated response
Shift
47 days to first stable service; longer-term goals remain open -> 6 days to first stable service; needs met 7 of 8
Experience
Current system
Fragmented touchpoints
Each service can do its own work while the person is left to carry the thread between them.
Touchpoint sequence
01 CPS hotline / court
02 DV worker / safe house
03 Housing locator
04 Benefits
05 Behavioral health / parenting
06 WDC case manager
07 Exit planning / community referrals
Continuity breaks
Where the thread drops
01
Story restarts across referrals
02
Housing, work, and child-welfare plans remain separate
03
Appointments and documentation demands collide
04
Progress tracking exists, but continuity is fragile
Integrated system
Coordinated service path
Shared context and explicit handoffs reduce the work required of the person without hiding constraints the system cannot remove.
Touchpoint sequence
01 Coordinated CPS / DV contact
02 Paced, consented intake
03 Housing / benefits / WDC handoffs
04 Treatment / parenting calendar
05 Shared progress view
06 Housing and transition plan
Continuity improves
What changes
01
Shareable facts travel with consent
02
Housing, work, and reunification planning connect
03
Missed appointments prompt coordinated outreach
04
Transition handoffs have owners and follow-up