Mapping Supports that Actually Work: Helping Callers Identify More than One Way Forward

Mapping Supports that Actually Work: Helping Callers Identify More than One Way Forward

Navigation conversations often focus on formal services, even though most people rely on a combination of personal relationships, community resources, and system supports. This session helps navigators broaden the way support options are identified and discussed during intake and follow-up. Participants will learn how to guide callers in recognizing multiple sources of support and understanding how those supports can work together. The session emphasizes realistic, person-centered navigation that reflects how people actually get help in their daily lives.

Objectives:

• Identify different categories of support commonly used by individuals and families beyond formal services

• Apply intake and follow-up questions that surface personal, community, and system-based supports.

• Organize the identified supports to highlight gaps, strengths, and opportunities for coordination.

• Support callers in understanding how multiple supports can work together to address their priorities.

Presenters:

Colette Cox

Colette Canchola-Cox is the Statewide Director of Missouri Family to Family at the UMKC Institute for Human Development, where she leads efforts to strengthen family support, peer connection, and person-centered practices across Missouri. She also leads the Missouri Charting the LifeCourse chapter and is a national subject matter expert on peer support, family leadership, and integrating the Charting the LifeCourse framework into real-world systems and community practice. With deep experience in cross-system collaboration, training, and technical assistance, Colette works at the intersection of information and referral, family support, disability, aging, and person-centered planning. Her work focuses on helping individuals, families, and professionals move beyond service navigation alone toward conversations that center on vision, choice, integrated supports, and what it takes to build a good life. 

Colette is known for translating big ideas into practical tools, strategies, and approaches for professionals, organizations, and systems seeking to become more person- and family-centered. Her work is grounded in lived experience, systems change, and a strong belief that people need more than information; they need meaningful support, connection, and pathways to action.

Sarah Adams

Sarah Adams is the Assistant Director of the LifeCourse Nexus Training and Technical Assistance Center at the University of Missouri–Kansas City’s Institute of Human Development. She leads and coordinates national training and technical assistance initiatives, supporting organizations and professionals to implement the Charting the LifeCourse (CtLC) framework in meaningful, sustainable ways. With over 20 years of experience in education and professional learning, Sarah brings a strong background in curriculum design, adult learning, and systems change. She previously served as Training Director for the LifeCourse Nexus, where she guided the development of innovative learning experiences and supported a national network of trainers and partners. Prior to her work at the LifeCourse Nexus, Sarah was an AVID Coordinator and Family and Consumer Science educator, in which she led schoolwide professional development, supported college- and career-readiness initiatives, and taught high school and dual-credit courses. 

Sarah holds a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Baker University and is passionate about creating engaging learning experiences that drive person-centered practices and improve outcomes for individuals and families.