Authors
All authors contributed equally and are listed in alphabetical order
Good policy and programmatic decisions begin with good information. High-quality survey data can help us understand where and how children and families are thriving and where policies, programs, and investments must address the challenges that prevent them from reaching their fullest potential. When designed intentionally, surveys generate more than just interesting information: They produce data that can catalyze change and inform decisions.
Guided by that intention, the Latino Families Flourishing (LFF) initiative held a series of virtual engagement sessions with organizational representatives and community leaders to inform the development of a forthcoming national survey of Latino families. Our goal was to better understand what data would support their organizations’ efforts and how LFF could design its survey to create the most useful and actionable data.
How we structured our engagement sessions
We designed engagement sessions to include a range of perspectives, inviting people with professional and lived experience in various aspects of Latino family life. We engaged with 86 individuals across seven two-hour virtual sessions, representing 44 local organizations from 18 states, 27 national organizations, and five universities. Their areas of focus spanned families, education, child care, economic supports, workforce, community development, health, government, housing, law enforcement, faith, media, LGBTQ+ communities, disability rights, and Indigenous communities.
We grounded the sessions in learnings from focus groups with Latino families on what flourishing means to families themselves, and what makes it easier or harder for them to flourish in the United States (see box). We organized the discussion around three main questions:
- How did engagement session attendees see the idea of family flourishing—according to Latino families’ own perspectives—show up in their work?
- What aspects of family flourishing (and contributing factors) would be helpful to capture in a national survey?
- What would it take for our survey data to be useful for attendees’ organizations and communities to drive change?
What we learned from our engagement sessions
The focus group themes resonated with engagement session attendees, who provided examples of how such themes show up in both their work and personal lives. For example, many commented on the importance of family relationships, mutual support, and closeness, and the extent to which these flow into other aspects of flourishing. Our conversations also elevated several topics related to family flourishing that did not arise in focus groups, including future-oriented concerns (e.g., preparing for retirement) and emerging issues like climate change.
Attendees generated more than 200 ideas for survey questions to reflect Latino family flourishing and its contributing factors. Although we are not able to address every idea, we will draw on these discussions in shaping the survey’s priorities and developing questions. So far, we see essential themes being reflected in questions that ask how families access and provide social supports, describe facilitators and barriers to accessing resources, and identify facilitators and constraints on families’ agency.
The discussion also addressed how attendees use data in their work and what it takes for data to be useful. Many participants mentioned using data to influence policy and legislation, shape programs, and allocate resources. Others offered insightful suggestions on how to increase the accessibility and utility of data:
- Pair statistics with memorable stories.
- Offer benchmarks or comparisons (e.g., how national data compare to local data).
- Share findings in a variety of formats (e.g., one-pagers, social media content, radio stories).
- Produce professional and digestible visuals.
- Frame findings around family success.
- Conduct direct outreach to interested parties to maximize reach.
- Provide technical assistance to communities on how to use the data.
These recommendations will inform future data collection, dissemination, and community capacity-building plans and may help others seeking to use data to improve policies and programs that support families and children. We intentionally sequenced these sessions at a pivotal moment in our survey design process, using input to shape our priorities and ensure that the data we collect are usable and actionable, while also developing a network of partners interested in translating the survey's findings into action.
Suggested citation: Falletta, K., LaForett, D., Ramos-Olazagasti, M.A., & Zarick, L. (2026). Why community-based organizations are helping design the Latino Family Flourishing survey. Child Trends. DOI: 10.56417/7854o423x