One Agency. Two Worlds. One System: Bringing Head Start and Community Action Data Together
After years of managing Head Start and Community Action in separate systems, one Virginia agency is using GoEngage to reduce duplicate data entry, strengthen reporting, and move closer to a whole-family view of the people it serves.
For nearly 25 years, Amanda Funk has watched her agency evolve. She started as a part-time intake worker, working directly with clients. From there, she moved into management and eventually became the agency's Chief Operations Officer.
Amanda Funk, Chief Operations Officer
Along the way, data became one of her specialties. For approximately 15 of those years, Amanda has handled much of the agency's data reporting. At one point, she was even the sole person entering information into its data systems.
And she's seen a few of those systems come and go. Four, to be exact, on the Community Action side alone.
So when Amanda talks about what it means to bring Head Start and Community Action data together, she understands the difference firsthand.
Amanda Funk, Chief Operations Officer
Along the way, data became one of her specialties. For approximately 15 of those years, Amanda has handled much of the agency's data reporting. At one point, she was even the sole person entering information into its data systems.
And she's seen a few of those systems come and go. Four, to be exact, on the Community Action side alone.
So when Amanda talks about what it means to bring Head Start and Community Action data together, she understands the difference firsthand.
Amanda Funk, Chief Operations Officer
Along the way, data became one of her specialties. For approximately 15 of those years, Amanda has handled much of the agency's data reporting. At one point, she was even the sole person entering information into its data systems.
And she's seen a few of those systems come and go. Four, to be exact, on the Community Action side alone.
So when Amanda talks about what it means to bring Head Start and Community Action data together, she understands the difference firsthand.
Amanda Funk, Chief Operations Officer
Along the way, data became one of her specialties. For approximately 15 of those years, Amanda has handled much of the agency's data reporting. At one point, she was even the sole person entering information into its data systems.
And she's seen a few of those systems come and go. Four, to be exact, on the Community Action side alone.
So when Amanda talks about what it means to bring Head Start and Community Action data together, she understands the difference firsthand.
One Agency Serving Families in Many Different Ways
Like many Community Action Agencies, Amanda's agency isn't defined by a single program.
Today, the Rooftop of Virginia CAP serves approximately 1,300 families through its Community Action programs and 146 children and families through Head Start, creating opportunities for families to interact with multiple programs and services across the agency.
It operates Head Start and Early Head Start, along with mixed-delivery preschool slots. On the Community Action side, its services include weatherization, essential home repair, housing vouchers, a first-time homebuyer savings program, free tax preparation, a senior citizen involvement program, a diaper program, and a growing Whole Family Approach initiative, among others.
The programs may be different.
The reporting requirements may be different.
The staff involved may be different.
But often, the families aren't.
A family enrolled in Head Start may also need help paying an electric bill. A parent receiving Community Action services may have a child eligible for Head Start. A family working toward long-term stability may interact with multiple people and programs throughout the agency.
That creates an important question: How do you stop treating those interactions as separate pieces of data and start seeing the family as a whole?
A family enrolled in Head Start may also need help paying an electric bill. A parent receiving Community Action services may have a child eligible for Head Start. A family working toward long-term stability may interact with multiple people and programs throughout the agency.
That creates an important question: How do you stop treating those interactions as separate pieces of data and start seeing the family as a whole?
A family enrolled in Head Start may also need help paying an electric bill. A parent receiving Community Action services may have a child eligible for Head Start. A family working toward long-term stability may interact with multiple people and programs throughout the agency.
That creates an important question: How do you stop treating those interactions as separate pieces of data and start seeing the family as a whole?
A family enrolled in Head Start may also need help paying an electric bill. A parent receiving Community Action services may have a child eligible for Head Start. A family working toward long-term stability may interact with multiple people and programs throughout the agency.
That creates an important question: How do you stop treating those interactions as separate pieces of data and start seeing the family as a whole?
For Amanda's agency, bringing Head Start and Community Action into GoEngage was an important step in that direction.
“It's [GoEngage] definitely really amped up the Head Start game, big time.”
Before GoEngage, Head Start Data Had to Be Entered Again
Before they moved both sides of the agency to GoEngage, Head Start and Community Action operated in separate systems. That created a very practical problem for Amanda. She still needed Head Start information for the reporting she was responsible for on the Community Action side.
Her solution? She had to enter it again.
Amanda would take Head Start's enrollees and manually enter them into the CAP system so she could capture the demographics and services needed for state reporting.
Think about what that meant.
Head Start staff had already collected the information.
The information already existed in another system.
But to use it for agency-wide reporting, someone had to enter it a second time.
Today, that process looks very different.
“It's definitely cut down on the amount of data entry that we have to do.”
Head Start staff enter information on their side. Community Action staff enter information on their side. Then Amanda can run her report and pull the information she needs.
No re-entering every Head Start child just so those children can be represented in her reporting.
As Amanda put it:
“I can run a report, and boom, it pulls the data; that's more efficient. It's not me going in and entering every single Head Start child again.”
Sometimes the biggest technology improvements aren't flashy. They're simply eliminating work that never should have needed to happen twice.
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Needle in the Haystack
“When you're trying to dig through data to find a needle in the haystack,” she explained, "being able to zero in on the individuals behind a number makes a significant difference."
Reporting That Helps You Find the Needle in the Haystack
For someone who has spent years responsible for data reporting, getting the numbers isn't enough. Amanda needs to understand what's behind them.
That's one of the GoEngage capabilities she especially appreciates on the Community Action side. When working with CSBG reporting, Amanda can drill into a reported number and see the people contributing to it. If something doesn't look right, she can investigate.
She gave a simple example: if she wants to see who is being counted as female in a report, she can click into that number and see the individual names and identifying numbers behind it.
That makes it easier to answer questions such as:
Why is this person being counted?
Why isn't that person being counted?
Is someone included who shouldn't be?
Where does the underlying data need to be corrected?
For Amanda, that ability can be a lifesaver.
“When you're trying to dig through data to find a needle in the haystack,” she explained, "being able to zero in on the individuals behind a number makes a significant difference."
Head Start Found More Tools. CAP Started Taking Notice.
The benefits of putting both sides of the agency into the same platform haven't flowed in only one direction. Head Start began using features that caught the attention of the Community Action team.
Amanda specifically mentioned GoEngage's maintenance request functionality. Head Start was already using it. Now Community Action uses it, too. The same conversation is happening around inventory tracking.
The benefits of putting both sides of the agency into the same platform haven't flowed in only one direction. Head Start began using features that caught the attention of the Community Action team.
One side of the agency can learn from the other.
Amanda specifically mentioned GoEngage's maintenance request functionality. Head Start was already using it. Now Community Action uses it, too. The same conversation is happening around inventory tracking.
The benefits of putting both sides of the agency into the same platform haven't flowed in only one direction. Head Start began using features that caught the attention of the Community Action team.
One side of the agency can learn from the other.
Amanda specifically mentioned GoEngage's maintenance request functionality. Head Start was already using it. Now Community Action uses it, too. The same conversation is happening around inventory tracking.
The benefits of putting both sides of the agency into the same platform haven't flowed in only one direction. Head Start began using features that caught the attention of the Community Action team.
One side of the agency can learn from the other.
Amanda specifically mentioned GoEngage's maintenance request functionality. Head Start was already using it. Now Community Action uses it, too. The same conversation is happening around inventory tracking.
The benefits of putting both sides of the agency into the same platform haven't flowed in only one direction. Head Start began using features that caught the attention of the Community Action team.
One side of the agency can learn from the other.
Amanda says Head Start has embraced the broader functionality available to it, including tools such as the Parent Portal and maintenance requests.
Her description was simple: “It's definitely really amped up the Head Start game, big time.”
Communication That Fits the People You Serve
On the Community Action side, one feature comes up repeatedly with staff: Texting.
And the examples show exactly why.
The agency operates a senior citizen involvement program. When winter weather makes conditions unsafe, a program manager can quickly text participants to let them know a site is closed.
During tax season, staff can send an individual a message letting them know their taxes are ready to be picked up.
Those aren't complicated workflows. But they make communication faster and easier for both staff and the people they're serving.
Amanda says staff “really, really like” the texting functionality.
Staff have also found GoEngage relatively easy to learn once they become familiar with its terminology and navigation. Amanda noted that entering data and uploading documents are fairly straightforward, and staff particularly like the ability to create Quick Forms.
One Family Shouldn't Feel Like Two Families Because Programs Have Different Funding
Amanda's agency is still refining how information and referrals flow between its Head Start and Community Action teams. She was candid that cross-program referrals haven't yet been as seamless as the agency would like, and she sees opportunities for GoEngage to continue improving how the two sides work together.
But that candor points to something larger. The agency isn't trying to connect Head Start and Community Action simply because having one software platform is convenient. It's trying to connect them because families don't experience their needs in program silos.
A family doesn't necessarily think of an electric bill as a “Community Action need” and preschool enrollment as a “Head Start need.”
They are needs affecting the same household. That's why Amanda's vision for GoEngage continues to grow.
She sees what the agency has already gained: less duplicate data entry, stronger reporting, more features for Head Start, useful communication tools for CAP, and opportunities for one side of the organization to adopt successful workflows from the other.
But she also sees where the journey could go next. A more connected view of the family. More seamless referrals. More opportunities for staff to understand how services across the agency fit together. And ultimately, better information for making decisions about the families and communities they serve.
Amanda's agency is still refining how information and referrals flow between its Head Start and Community Action teams. She was candid that cross-program referrals haven't yet been as seamless as the agency would like, and she sees opportunities for GoEngage to continue improving how the two sides work together.
But that candor points to something larger. The agency isn't trying to connect Head Start and Community Action simply because having one software platform is convenient. It's trying to connect them because families don't experience their needs in program silos.
A family doesn't necessarily think of an electric bill as a “Community Action need” and preschool enrollment as a “Head Start need.”
They are needs affecting the same household. That's why Amanda's vision for GoEngage continues to grow.
She sees what the agency has already gained: less duplicate data entry, stronger reporting, more features for Head Start, useful communication tools for CAP, and opportunities for one side of the organization to adopt successful workflows from the other.
But she also sees where the journey could go next. A more connected view of the family. More seamless referrals. More opportunities for staff to understand how services across the agency fit together. And ultimately, better information for making decisions about the families and communities they serve.
Amanda's agency is still refining how information and referrals flow between its Head Start and Community Action teams. She was candid that cross-program referrals haven't yet been as seamless as the agency would like, and she sees opportunities for GoEngage to continue improving how the two sides work together.
But that candor points to something larger. The agency isn't trying to connect Head Start and Community Action simply because having one software platform is convenient. It's trying to connect them because families don't experience their needs in program silos.
A family doesn't necessarily think of an electric bill as a “Community Action need” and preschool enrollment as a “Head Start need.”
They are needs affecting the same household. That's why Amanda's vision for GoEngage continues to grow.
She sees what the agency has already gained: less duplicate data entry, stronger reporting, more features for Head Start, useful communication tools for CAP, and opportunities for one side of the organization to adopt successful workflows from the other.
But she also sees where the journey could go next. A more connected view of the family. More seamless referrals. More opportunities for staff to understand how services across the agency fit together. And ultimately, better information for making decisions about the families and communities they serve.
Amanda's agency is still refining how information and referrals flow between its Head Start and Community Action teams. She was candid that cross-program referrals haven't yet been as seamless as the agency would like, and she sees opportunities for GoEngage to continue improving how the two sides work together.
But that candor points to something larger. The agency isn't trying to connect Head Start and Community Action simply because having one software platform is convenient. It's trying to connect them because families don't experience their needs in program silos.
A family doesn't necessarily think of an electric bill as a “Community Action need” and preschool enrollment as a “Head Start need.”
They are needs affecting the same household. That's why Amanda's vision for GoEngage continues to grow.
She sees what the agency has already gained: less duplicate data entry, stronger reporting, more features for Head Start, useful communication tools for CAP, and opportunities for one side of the organization to adopt successful workflows from the other.
But she also sees where the journey could go next. A more connected view of the family. More seamless referrals. More opportunities for staff to understand how services across the agency fit together. And ultimately, better information for making decisions about the families and communities they serve.
CAP staff member working with a Head Start parent
From Four Data Systems to a More Connected Future
After nearly 25 years at the agency and experience with four different CAP data systems, Amanda knows that no technology platform eliminates every challenge. But she also knows what it looks like when technology eliminates unnecessary work.
She no longer has to manually recreate every Head Start enrollee in a separate CAP system just to complete her reporting. Her team can communicate with participants by text. She can drill into CSBG reports to understand the people behind the numbers.
Head Start is taking advantage of a growing set of tools, while CAP is beginning to adopt workflows that have worked well for its Head Start colleagues. And both sides are operating within GoEngage.
For agencies that operate both Head Start and Community Action programs, Amanda's experience points toward a bigger opportunity.
The goal isn't simply putting two programs into the same software.
It's using shared technology to reduce silos, eliminate unnecessary work, learn from one another, and gradually build a more complete picture of the families your entire agency exists to serve.
Because ultimately, Head Start and Community Action may have different requirements, different programs, and different reporting responsibilities. But they're often serving the same family.
What Could One Connected System Mean for Your Agency?
If your organization operates both Head Start and Community Action programs, your teams may have different requirements—but the families you serve often cross those program lines.
See how GoEngage can help your agency bring Head Start and Community Action data together, reduce duplicate work, strengthen reporting, and create a more connected approach to serving the whole family.
Schedule a Personalized GoEngage Demo
