Helping families get answers and reach the help their children need.
Good programs and services already exist. Too many families and caregivers still do not know where to turn, cannot get through, or are sent from one place to another without a clear answer. Fair Access Foundation exists to help make the path clear and follow what happens after a referral.
FAF is for families and caregivers trying to get help for a child. We work with schools, healthcare providers, public agencies, community organizations, and existing programs when appropriate—with the family at the center.
FAF is preparing a Randolph County pilot. Family intake is not yet open.
If so much help already exists, why are families still struggling?
Because help is spread across many different organizations, programs, and systems.
A family may face unanswered calls, waitlists, confusing eligibility rules, transportation problems, missing information, unavailable appointments, or referrals between organizations that cannot see what happened next.
Each organization may be doing its part, but the family can still be left carrying the whole problem—trying to determine who to call, what to do next, and whether anyone is still following the need.
FAF exists for the point where help may be available, but the family still cannot reach it or get a clear answer.
What could this look like for a family?
Illustrative examples—not actual FAF cases.
A child is missing school because transportation, housing problems, a caregiver’s work schedule, health concerns, or another family disruption is making regular attendance difficult.
A caregiver received a referral but cannot get an appointment, understand the eligibility requirements, arrange transportation, or determine whom to contact next.
A school, provider, or community organization referred a family for help but cannot tell whether the family reached the service or whether the original problem was addressed.
A grandparent, relative, foster parent, or other caregiver is trying to work with several organizations and needs help understanding the next step.
The specific need may be different. The common problem is that the family is still searching, waiting, repeating its story, or trying to connect pieces that no one organization can see by itself.
One clear path when the next step is unclear.
Listen and Understand
Start with what the family says it needs, learn what has already been tried, and understand what is preventing progress.
Find the Next Step
Identify the right existing service or organization, clarify what must happen next, and determine who appropriately owns that action.
Follow Through
Check what happened after the referral or planned action. Determine whether the family reached help and, if not, make the remaining barrier and next step clear.
A referral is a beginning. It does not tell us whether the family actually received help.
FAF does not promise to resolve every problem. FAF can help make the path, responsibility, progress, barrier, and outcome clearer.
FAF connects the path. Existing organizations continue doing the work they do best.
Schools, healthcare providers, agencies, navigators, case managers, and community organizations already provide essential expertise and services.
FAF's planned role is to help a family understand how those efforts fit together when an important need remains unresolved. With appropriate permission, FAF would help keep the next action visible, reduce repeated searching, and follow whether the family reached the intended support.
Families and caregivers are at the center of FAF's work. Schools and other organizations may refer, communicate, coordinate, or receive appropriate follow-up, but FAF does not replace their services, authority, or professional responsibilities.
FAF Connect · Patent PendingThe tool that helps FAF remember what the family should not have to carry alone.
FAF Connect is the technology system being developed to support FAF's work.
It would help authorized users keep the family's priorities, actions, referrals, barriers, follow-up, and outcomes in one clear record. It would show what has been tried, what should happen next, who is responsible, and whether help was actually reached.
FAF Connect supports the people doing the work. It is not the help itself, and it does not replace human judgment.
Start with families. Learn where the path breaks. Build something that works.
FAF is preparing a one-year Randolph County pilot currently planned for approximately 100 families or complex cases.
The pilot would test whether families can receive clearer next steps, stronger follow-through, and better access to existing support—and whether schools, providers, agencies, and community leaders can learn where referrals and service pathways repeatedly stall.
The pilot remains subject to approved funding, staffing, operational readiness, appropriate safeguards, and final program design. Family intake is not yet open.
Help us build a clearer path for Randolph County families.
FAF welcomes conversations with families, caregivers, schools, providers, public agencies, community organizations, funders, and civic leaders who can help shape a practical and responsible pilot.