Coordinated Response Framework
A structured approach to strengthen early intervention, cross-system coordination, and measurable community outcomes for children and families in Tulsa.
For the full system-by-system response framework, see the Response Framework page.
This framework is designed around prevention, support, accountability, ethical implementation, and measurable progress. It is not surveillance or punitive intervention. It connects seven major systems to coordinated response actions, follow-up timelines, SMART goals, progress indicators, and long-term outcome measures.
Purpose
Why This Framework Exists
This framework exists to strengthen how systems work together on behalf of children and families.
Core Objectives
- Identify emerging risk patterns earlier
- Improve coordination between systems
- Strengthen family stabilization efforts
- Reduce repeat crisis-system involvement
- Improve long-term child, family, educational, workforce, and community outcomes
Guiding Principles
Foundation for Every Decision
The foundation of every decision, intervention, and measurement within this framework.
Prevention Before Crisis
The goal is to identify concerning patterns before children and families enter repeated crisis-system involvement.
Shared Responsibility
Child well-being outcomes are influenced by education, healthcare, mental health, family stability, public safety, economic conditions, and community support systems.
Measurable Accountability
Systems should not only document concerns. Systems should also measure whether interventions improve outcomes over time.
Ethical & Trauma-Informed Coordination
Responses should prioritize family stabilization, child safety, dignity, privacy protections, and least-restrictive intervention whenever possible.
Longitudinal Improvement
The pilot seeks to measure sustained stabilization rather than temporary crisis interruption alone.
Framework Structure
Core Framework Model
For each indicator category, the framework includes eight structured components.
Eight Components
- Trigger Threshold
- Responsible Systems
- Coordinated Response Actions
- Follow-Up Timeline
- SMART Goals
- Progress Indicators
- Escalation Thresholds
- Long-Term Outcome Measures
System Frameworks
Seven Systems of Response
Each system framework identifies trigger indicators, responsible systems, coordinated response actions, and measurable outcomes.
1. Education System
The education system identifies early warning patterns through attendance, academic performance, behavioral referrals, and school stability. Coordinated response connects school administration, counselors, attendance teams, family support specialists, behavioral support staff, and community partners.
Trigger indicators: Chronic absenteeism (exceeding 10% of instructional days), frequent school mobility, sudden academic decline, repeated behavioral referrals and escalating disciplinary incidents, social withdrawal or emotional dysregulation, repeated nurse visits, 3+ consecutive unexplained absences, and multiple instability indicators identified simultaneously.
Coordinated response actions (within 72 hours): Family outreach initiated, attendance barrier assessment completed, academic stabilization review conducted, transportation and housing concerns screened, behavioral support needs reviewed, and referral options discussed with caregivers.
SMART goal: Reduce chronic absenteeism from 18% missed instructional time to below 8% within 90 days through coordinated school-family intervention.
Long-term outcomes: Graduation readiness, literacy progression, school connectedness, reduced dropout risk, and career readiness participation.
2. Child Welfare
The child welfare system responds to patterns of repeat hotline referrals, multiple screened-in reports, frequent school instability, repeated unexplained injuries, domestic violence exposure concerns, caregiver impairment concerns, and unsafe environmental concerns.
Coordinated response actions: Safety assessment review, family stabilization planning, domestic violence resource review, service coordination meeting, referral pathway activation, and follow-up scheduling.
SMART goal: Reduce repeat screened-in referrals within 12 months through coordinated stabilization planning and increased family engagement.
Long-term outcomes: Family stabilization, reduced foster care entry, reduced repeat maltreatment concerns, and increased safety consistency.
3. Law Enforcement
Law enforcement involvement is triggered by repeat domestic violence calls, youth violence exposure, frequent runaway reports, juvenile crisis involvement, and repeated community disturbance calls involving minors.
Coordinated response actions: Trauma-informed safety response, child exposure documentation review, referral to stabilization resources, domestic violence advocate connection, crisis de-escalation support, and coordinated follow-up communication.
SMART goal: Reduce repeat law enforcement crisis calls involving children within 6 months through coordinated intervention and stabilization support.
Long-term outcomes: Reduced violence exposure, improved family safety, reduced juvenile justice involvement, and improved community stability.
4. Judicial System
The judicial system responds to repeated family court involvement, high-conflict custody concerns, repeat protective order filings, juvenile justice recurrence, and failure to connect families to stabilizing services.
Coordinated response actions: Referral pathway review, family stabilization resource connection, trauma-informed screening consideration, cross-system communication review, and follow-up monitoring timeline.
The judicial system plays a unique role in connecting families to stabilizing services at critical decision points. The framework emphasizes building referral pathways that keep families connected to support rather than cycling through repeated court involvement.
SMART goal: Increase successful family stabilization referrals connected through judicial pathways within 12 months.
Long-term outcomes: Reduced family system cycling, increased stabilization outcomes, and reduced youth justice involvement.
5. Healthcare
Healthcare responses are triggered by frequent ER utilization, injury patterns, missed pediatric appointments, failure to thrive concerns, repeated stress-related symptoms, and chronic untreated medical concerns.
Coordinated response actions: Care coordination review, referral pathway activation, follow-up scheduling, family support assessment, and preventive care education.
Healthcare systems are often the first to observe patterns in children's physical well-being. Coordinating between pediatric providers, school nurses, and community health workers strengthens preventive care and reduces avoidable emergency utilization.
SMART goal: Increase preventive healthcare follow-up compliance within 6 months among identified high-risk pediatric populations.
Long-term outcomes: Improved pediatric health stability, reduced chronic crisis utilization, and increased developmental support access.
6. Mental Health
Mental health system responses are triggered by repeated crisis interventions, suicidal ideation concerns, severe emotional dysregulation, school mental health referrals, and behavioral escalation patterns.
Coordinated response actions: Mental health screening, crisis stabilization planning, family support engagement, follow-up care coordination, and school support communication.
Mental health crisis recurrence often signals gaps in follow-up care, not just severity of need. Coordinated response between behavioral health providers, school counselors, and family support systems reduces repeat crisis escalation.
SMART goal: Reduce repeat behavioral health crisis interventions within 12 months through coordinated follow-up and stabilization planning.
Long-term outcomes: Improved emotional regulation, reduced psychiatric crisis escalation, and increased long-term treatment engagement.
7. Public Health
Public health responses are triggered by geographic clustering of instability indicators, high rates of violence exposure, housing instability concentration, community behavioral health trends, and repeated preventable crisis-system utilization.
Coordinated response actions: Community trend analysis, prevention resource targeting, cross-sector intervention planning, public awareness initiatives, and community-based stabilization partnerships.
Public health responses operate at the community level, identifying geographic and population-level trends that inform where prevention resources should be concentrated. This framework connects community-level data to cross-sector intervention planning.
SMART goal: Reduce concentrated community instability indicators within targeted geographic areas through coordinated prevention initiatives over 24 months.
Long-term outcomes: Improved community stability, reduced preventable crisis involvement, and increased neighborhood resilience.
Measurement
Measurement & Accountability
The pilot should consistently ask these questions to ensure coordination produces measurable improvement.
Accountability Questions
- Was intervention initiated?
- How quickly did systems respond?
- Did coordination occur?
- Did indicators improve?
- Was stabilization sustained?
- Were repeat crisis events reduced?
- Which interventions showed measurable improvement?
Child & Family Stability
- School attendance improvement
- Reduced mobility
- Reduced emergency removals
- Reduced repeat hotline reports
- Increased caregiver engagement
Community Stability
- Reduced repeat law enforcement calls
- Reduced juvenile justice involvement
- Reduced crisis-system utilization
- Increased community support engagement
Education Outcomes
- Improved literacy benchmarks
- Reduced disciplinary incidents
- Increased graduation readiness
- Improved school connectedness
Health & Behavioral Health
- Reduced ER overutilization
- Increased preventive care compliance
- Reduced behavioral health crisis recurrence
- Increased counseling participation
Safeguards
Implementation Safeguards
The pilot framework includes essential protections to ensure ethical, legal, and trauma-informed implementation.
Core Safeguards
- Privacy protections
- Legal compliance review
- Ethical governance standards
- Trauma-informed implementation
- Human oversight and review
- Clear intervention limitations
- Community transparency
This Framework IS
- An early support infrastructure
- A prevention-oriented coordination model
- A measurable community stabilization initiative
This Framework is NOT
- Predictive policing
- Punitive surveillance
- Automated family scoring
- Replacement for professional judgment
Tulsa has the opportunity to build a more coordinated, prevention-oriented model that strengthens child safety, educational outcomes, family stability, workforce readiness, and long-term community well-being. The Tulsa Child Well-Being Pilot is designed to help begin that work through measurable coordination, ethical implementation, and shared accountability across systems.