What if we treated coaching and case management not as compliance tasks but as relational practices that build capability over time?
This annotated bibliography, authored on behalf of The Prosperity Agenda with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, assembles the strongest evidence to date on person-centered and family-centered approaches across human services, health, education, and workforce systems, tracing a lineage from Rogers’ humanistic psychology to contemporary models like MyGoals, MI-GPS, LIFT, Mobility Mentoring, and Family-Centered Coaching (FCC). In one place, it shows how a coaching mindset (empathy, shared power, and goal clarity) translates into better engagement, stronger self-efficacy, and more durable outcomes.
Organized for practical use, the guide walks readers from foundational theory to applied practice: general perspectives on person-centered care; case management in TANF and health settings; counseling and psychological techniques (e.g., motivational interviewing, executive-function coaching); family-centered strategies in early childhood and child welfare; implementation and evaluation lessons; and finally, policy and program development. The result is not just “what works,” but how, where, and under what conditions it works, exactly the nuance practitioners and policymakers need.
Three cross-cutting insights emerge. First, individualized, strengths-based coaching consistently outperforms directive, rules-first approaches on engagement and intermediate progress, especially when paired with trauma-informed and culturally responsive practice. Second, whole-family designs matter: interventions that synchronize supports for caregivers and children show clearer gains in stability and developmental outcomes. Third, implementation is the ballgame; fidelity, supervision, communities of practice, and aligned performance metrics are the difference between a promising model and meaningful change.
How to use this resource:
- Program leaders can mine it to modernize service models, write evidence-informed RFPs, and align staffing, supervision, and data with coaching mindsets.
- Supervisors and trainers will find ready citations to build learning journeys on MI, executive skills, and reflective practice.
- Frontline staff can translate the summaries into scripts, visuals, and tools for goal-setting with individuals and families.
- Researchers and funders can identify gaps, long-term impacts, equity effects, and scaling conditions, for the next wave of studies.
If your organization is rethinking how to advance mobility with families, not for them, this bibliography is a field guide and a course reader rolled into one. Read the full annotated bibliography (linked), share it with your team, and let it inform your next training, grant, or pilot.
Innovative Research Insights 