It often starts with a small moment. A parent coordinating an appointment for their child. A caregiver reviewing school forms while exploring early learning options. A family connecting with the many programs and services that can support their child’s growth.
In these everyday scenarios, families are doing what they can to support their children’s health, growth, and well-being.
Family Navigation recognizes and builds on these strengths. It strengthens connections between families and the programs, services, and opportunities available in the community, while supporting families as they pursue goals that matter most to them.
Research continues to highlight the impact of navigation support. Emerging studies on Early Intervention (EI) services for families of children showing autism symptoms found that families who received Navigation support were significantly more likely, by as much as 54%, to engage in EI services compared to families receiving comprehensive care management alone.
North Hartford Ascend (Ascend) is a prenatal-to-career network of programs and services that support children and families. Ascend has embraced Family Navigation as a core strategy for strengthening family connections and improving coordination across services. Through the Family Navigation Systems Building Work Group (FNSB), a group of partners working together across organizations, Ascend continues to learn what relationship-based Family Navigation looks like in practice and how it supports family well-being and thriving.
What Is Family Navigation?
Family Navigation is more than connecting families to services. It is a relationship-based approach that supports families as they build on their strengths and connect with programs, opportunities, and resources aligned with their goals.
In 2025, North Hartford Ascend’s Family Navigation Systems Building Work Group co-created a shared definition of Family Navigation:
"Family Navigation is a trust and relationship-based support process that walks alongside families, identifying their strengths, needs and goals. Through consistent relationships, active problem-solving, and coordination across systems, Family Navigation helps families access, connect, and effectively use programs, services, and other resources available to the community. By reducing barriers and strengthening connections, Family Navigation promotes stability, well-being, and thriving at school, at home, and in the community."
This definition reflects a core belief: families already bring knowledge, resilience, and expertise. Family Navigators help strengthen connections and support families as they move toward the outcomes they define for themselves.
Across Ascend’s network, Family Navigators are embedded within partner organizations, including The Village for Families and Children, 211-United Way, and others. This structure helps ensure families experience coordinated support, no matter where they first connect.
Learning From People Closest to the Work
While Family Navigation is guided by a shared framework, we tried to understand it through the experiences of those providing support every day.
Recently, North Hartford Ascend’s Family Navigation Systems Building Work Group held its annual retreat. Childhood Prosperity Lab, an Ascend partner focused on advancing social innovation to support the health, development, and well-being of children, families, and communities, brought participants together for a collaborative working co-design session to develop Shared Navigation Standards based on their experiences and insights.
The retreat brought together leaders, managers, frontline navigators, and other staff involved in navigation efforts across the network. Participants shared insights about how Family Navigation is practiced and identified the approaches that help families stay connected, engaged, and supported.
These conversations, along with insights gathered through broader community engagement, surfaced several themes that continue to shape Family Navigation across Ascend.
Trust as a Foundation for Connection
One of the strongest themes to emerge was the role of trust in building meaningful connections.
Trust grows through consistent relationships, follow-through, and genuine engagement. It creates space for families to share their goals, explore opportunities, and connect with supports that align with their aspirations.
Through Ascend, Family Navigation strengthens trust by ensuring families have reliable, ongoing relationships with navigators who recognize and build on their strengths. This relationship-centered approach helps families feel supported as they pursue their goals.
Personalized, Relationship-Based Support
Families bring unique strengths, experiences, and aspirations. Family Navigation helps ensure those strengths remain at the center of the support experience.
Navigators consistently describe how relationships are the foundation of effective Family Navigation. When families feel heard, understood, and respected, they are better able to engage with programs and opportunities that support their goals.
Practices such as active listening, warm handoffs across organizations, and ongoing follow-up help create a personalized experience that reflects each family’s journey. This relationship-based approach helps strengthen engagement and connection over time.
Strengthening Connections Across Programs and Services
Families often engage with a range of supports that help children grow and thrive, including healthcare, early childhood programs, schools, housing supports, and community-based services.
Each of these plays an important role in supporting families, and they are most helpful when they are connected in ways that make it easier for families to move between them and access what they need.
Ascend’s Family Navigation efforts strengthen coordination across partner organizations and help families connect with a wide range of programs, services, and resources. This collaborative approach creates a more connected experience and helps ensure families can engage with supports that align with their goals.
Re-imagine How Systems Show-up For Families
In 2024, nearly 10,000 referrals connected families to both Ascend and non-Ascend programs, helping residents access opportunities, services, and resources that support their goals and well-being. These connections reflect a broader shift in how communities think about family support systems. Family Navigation highlights several key ideas:
- Access is an ongoing process built through trusting relationships
- Engagement grows through trust and connection
- Systems are strongest when they work together with families
Through Ascend, Family Navigation strengthens existing services by improving coordination, deepening relationships, and creating more connected pathways across systems. This approach helps ensure families can build on their strengths and access the opportunities that support thriving children, families, and communities.
As Ascend continues to advance this work, Family Navigation offers a model for strengthening relationships, coordination, and opportunity, ensuring families are supported as they pursue their goals and thrive in their communities.