Frequently Asked Questions

WPFF services are available to families residing in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, with at least one child under 18 years of age or who are currently expecting a child. Household income must generally be at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (approximately $62,400 for a family of four in 2024). Some programs, such as crisis intervention, have no income threshold for initial response. We serve all family structures including single-parent households, two-parent families, grandparent-led families, foster and kinship families, and multigenerational households. Immigration status does not affect eligibility for any WPFF program. Families outside Mecklenburg County may be referred to equivalent providers in their area through our referral network.

The intake process begins with our online Family Needs Assessment, a confidential three-to-five-minute questionnaire available on our website that evaluates your family's situation across five key domains. After completing the assessment, call our intake line at (704) 555-0198, extension 110, or email intake@whitepicketfencefoundation.org to schedule a 60-minute intake appointment. During intake, a licensed case coordinator will review your assessment results, gather additional information about your family's circumstances, verify eligibility documentation, and develop a personalized service plan. Most families begin receiving services within one to two weeks of their intake appointment. Walk-in intake hours are available Monday through Thursday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM for families unable to schedule in advance.

The majority of WPFF programs are provided at no cost to eligible families. This includes housing stability services, crisis intervention, child enrichment programs (tutoring, summer camp, art therapy), and counseling referral coordination. Parenting education classes and financial literacy workshops are free for families meeting income eligibility. Families referred to therapists through our counseling network pay sliding-scale fees starting at $15 per session based on household income, with pro-bono sessions available in acute crisis situations (limited to six per family). WPFF never turns away a family due to inability to pay, and financial barriers should never prevent a family from seeking help. Discuss any cost concerns with your case coordinator during intake.

To complete the intake process efficiently, we ask families to bring the following documentation if available: a valid photo identification for each adult in the household (driver's license, state ID, passport, or consular ID); proof of Mecklenburg County residency (utility bill, lease agreement, or official mail dated within the last 60 days); income verification for all household members (two recent pay stubs, SSI/SSDI award letter, TANF benefit statement, or self-attestation form for families with informal income); and birth certificates or school enrollment records for children in the household. If you do not have some of these documents, please still attend your intake appointment. Our intake specialists can assist with obtaining replacement documents and will not deny services based on missing paperwork alone.

Program duration varies based on the service area and each family's individual plan. Parenting education programs (Triple P and Circle of Security) run for eight consecutive weeks, with sessions held once weekly. Financial literacy workshops also follow an eight-week format. Housing stability case management typically continues for three to six months, with some families receiving extended support up to twelve months if their situation requires ongoing stabilization. Child enrichment programs operate on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools academic calendar (September through June) with additional summer programming in June and July. Counseling referrals are open-ended, with the average WPFF family attending 9 to 10 sessions. Crisis intervention provides immediate stabilization within 48 to 72 hours, with transition to ongoing services as appropriate. Your case coordinator will establish a timeline during your initial service plan development.

Yes, and in fact our wraparound service model encourages it. Research consistently demonstrates that families facing interconnected challenges (housing instability combined with financial stress combined with parenting difficulties) achieve better outcomes when all needs are addressed simultaneously rather than sequentially. Your case coordinator will develop a comprehensive service plan that may include enrollment in two, three, or even four programs at once, with scheduling coordinated to avoid conflicts. For example, a family might receive emergency housing assistance, enroll a parent in the Financial Empowerment Workshop, place children in after-school tutoring, and begin a counseling referral all within the same service period. The only limitation is your family's capacity to engage meaningfully with the programs without becoming overwhelmed.

Yes. Our staff includes three bilingual Spanish-speaking team members who provide intake, case management, and program facilitation in Spanish. Our Circle of Security parenting group offers a dedicated Spanish-language cohort each quarter. For Vietnamese-speaking families, we partner with the Vietnamese American Community of Charlotte to provide in-person interpretation during intake and case management appointments. For families speaking other languages, we contract with LanguageLine Solutions, a certified telephonic and video interpretation service covering over 240 languages, available at no cost to the family during any WPFF appointment. All core program materials (intake forms, service plans, resource guides, and consent documents) are available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, with additional translations produced upon request. We are committed to ensuring that language is never a barrier to accessing family support services.

WPFF takes data privacy and confidentiality extremely seriously. All family records are maintained in a HIPAA-compliant electronic case management system with 256-bit AES encryption, role-based access controls, and automatic session timeouts. Only your assigned case coordinator and their direct supervisor have access to your complete case file. Information is shared with partner organizations only with your explicit written consent and only to the extent necessary to coordinate services (for example, sending a referral to a therapist requires sharing basic contact and presenting concern information). We do not sell, share, or disclose family information to any third party for marketing, research, or any purpose not directly related to your service delivery. Case files are retained for seven years per North Carolina nonprofit record retention requirements and then securely destroyed. You have the right to review your file, request corrections, and withdraw consent for information sharing at any time by contacting your case coordinator or our privacy officer.

Absolutely. Community referrals are one of our most important intake pathways. If you know a family in Mecklenburg County that could benefit from our services, you can share our website and recommend they complete the online Family Needs Assessment, or you can call our intake line at (704) 555-0198, extension 110, to make a verbal referral with their knowledge and consent. We also accept professional referrals from schools, healthcare providers, social workers, faith communities, law enforcement, and other community organizations. Self-referrals are always welcome, and families do not need a professional referral to access services. If you are a current WPFF participant and want to refer a family, simply let your case coordinator know and they will facilitate the warm introduction.

We actively seek partnerships with businesses, faith organizations, civic groups, schools, and healthcare providers who want to strengthen families in our community. Partnership opportunities include corporate sponsorship of specific programs (starting at $5,000 annually), employee volunteer group service days, workplace giving campaigns, in-kind donations of supplies and professional services, and co-location of services at partner sites. Nonprofit and government agencies interested in formal referral partnerships or service coordination agreements should contact our Director of Programs, James Okafor, at programs@whitepicketfencefoundation.org. Corporate and business partnership inquiries should be directed to our Director of Development, Linda Vasquez, at development@whitepicketfencefoundation.org or (704) 555-0198, extension 130. We welcome conversations about how we can work together to serve more families effectively.