Wyoming Family Resource Centers Collective Evaluation

Omni’s 2026 evaluation highlights the vital role of Family Resource Centers in strengthening families across Wyoming and documented next steps for further network support and development.

Client

Wyoming Children’s Trust Fund

Project type

Evaluation

Date

2024 - 2026

Key Links

Full Project

Evaluation Report

Project Objectives

Document how Wyoming's Family Resource Centers (FRC) reach families statewide by compiling estimated individuals, families, services, and referrals reported by FRCs serving 17 counties and one tribal community.
Assess the supports the Collective provides to its centers by examining grants, technical assistance, cohort meetings, and trainings through tracking data, satisfaction surveys, and FRC focus groups.
Capture how community partners experience local FRCs through surveys of 36 partners, including 13 Department of Family Services offices, on referral practices, perceived value, and family engagement.
Build shared evaluation infrastructure for the network through Impact Maps, an evaluation plan, five data collection instruments, and draft common intake and screening forms that prepare the Collective to measure family-level outcomes.
Inform sustainability planning as American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding ends by documenting the funding gap FRCs reported and the strategies they proposed for keeping the network and its peer relationships intact.

Project Description

Wyoming Children's Trust Fund (WYCTF), which administers grant funding and coordinates technical assistance for the Wyoming Family Resource Centers Collective (FRCC), contracted with Omni from 2024 to 2026 to conduct an independent evaluation of the Collective and its member Family Resource Centers. FRCs are community-based organizations that help individuals and families access basic needs support, health and parenting resources, adult education, and childcare connections. Through ARPA funding, the Collective distributed 24 grants totaling approximately $2.54 million to 16 FRCs operating 18 locations across 17 counties and one tribal community.

Omni began their work with the Wyoming FRCC by facilitating a collaborative process with FRCC partners to define the challenges the network addresses, set shared goals, and agree on a guiding approach. From that foundation, Omni developed two Impact Maps, one for the Collective and one for individual FRCs, linking resources and strategies to intended outcomes in the accessibility, affordability, and approachability of services across the state. These maps organized the evaluation plan and gave the network a common reference point for its work.

Across three annual data collection cycles, Omni carried out a mixed methods evaluation using a Grantee Survey, an Operations Survey, a Community Partner Survey, a Training and Event Satisfaction Survey, a technical assistance tracking tool, and a focus group guide. The 2026 report brings together the perspectives of FRC staff, Collective leadership, and 36 community partners, supplemented by two focus groups in which FRC staff reflected on successes, challenges, and future needs. The evaluation covers FRC service delivery, partner relationships, and three priority areas for the Collective: seniors and vulnerable adults, collaboration with child welfare and childcare, and retaining Wyomingites in their communities.

Omni also assessed FRC data capacity. Most centers reported some way of tracking individuals served, while formal tracking of families, services, and referrals varied widely. Working with the Collective, Omni helped draft common intake and screening forms designed around existing FRC workflows, and outlined a pathway toward aggregating family-level outcome data across centers, including a shared data system and a common family-level assessment.

The evaluation gives FRCC and its member FRCs a documented account of what the network built during a time-limited funding period. FRC staff asked directly for findings they could share with legislators and state officials, and the report supplies evidence the network can bring to funders and policymakers as it plans for sustainability. For the broader family support field, the findings describe how a new, largely rural FRC network develops, where peer learning adds value, and where small and independent centers are most vulnerable when grant funding ends.