Centro de la Familia uses Microsoft Power Apps and Copilot Studio to better support underserved children and families

Centro de la Familia, a US-based non-profit organization, needed a more efficient reporting system to streamline compliance and reporting to federal and state agencies.

Power Apps, Power BI and Dataverse were used to build a solution that integrates customizable reports and analytics with secure, role-based access to data. An agent built with Copilot Studio automates report generation.

Centro has achieved a 5x reduction in time spent on administrative processes and a 54% reduction in costs while their AI-driven agent has reduced report generation from hours to minutes.

Centro de la Familia de Utah is a nonprofit organization with a mission to promote lifelong educational success for children in underserved communities.

In 1991, the federal government selected Centro to implement the Head Start Program for Utah. Head Start provides comprehensive services to low-income children and families. Centro is one of approximately 1,600 Head Start grantees serving 800,000 children across the United States and its territories. Today, Centro operates 27 Head Start centers in Utah, Colorado, Nevada, and Montana.

Head Start actively encourages programs such as Centro’s to use data for continuous improvement, yet many Head Start grantees struggle with time-consuming reporting systems that limit their ability to make timely, data-informed decisions. What’s more, Centro was working with an external legacy system that limited access and control of their data.

A better system, for dramatically better results

To address the challenges of their legacy systems, Centro worked with its technology partner, JourneyTeam, to develop C-FIT—a Power Platform solution that integrates customizable reports and analytics. Built using Power BI and Power Apps, the solution represents a major upgrade and is making data analysis more accessible and actionable for Centro’s Head Start centers.

With C-FIT’s user-friendly reporting tools, centers can:

Identify trends in child outcomes and make targeted interventions

Streamline compliance and reporting to federal and state agencies

Make real-time, data-driven decisions to enhance service quality

Dataverse provides each Centro center with secure, role-based access and control of their own data, eliminating separate data access requests and exports that were required with the previous system. Power Platform also enabled Centro to customize the system, including new performance indicators. “With Power Platform, we were able to get the exact functionality we needed quickly and cost efficiently,” says Gonzalo Palza, CEO & Head Start Director at Centro.

The impact of the solution has been substantial. Notably, Centro has achieved a 5x reduction in time spent on administrative processes daily and a 54% reduction in costs compared to the previous solution. This transformation allows Centro de la Familia to shift their focus from paperwork to improving child and family outcomes, reinforcing their mission of promoting lifelong educational success for children in underserved communities.

The system drove another key benefit for Centro’s employees – recognition by their peers. With the new performance indicators in C-FIT, Centro was better able to demonstrate key progress metrics to the National Head Start Association. This led to Centro being certified as a program of excellence – just one of 4 programs across the country that earned the distinction last year.

Streamlining report generation with Copilot Studio

Building on the success of C-FIT, Centro and JourneyTeam took the solution one step further – with an AI-powered agent built using Microsoft Copilot Studio.

Currently, Family Service Specialists spend significant time summarizing and reviewing case notes to create applications for families in need of Head Start support. These reports would often go back and forth between the specialists and approval managers.

To streamline the process, the new agent automates note summarization and data entry, dramatically reducing administrative burden. The agent is embedded in C-FIT using an iframe. When employees meet with families, the new agent prompts employees with questions and automatically creates a report or ‘narrative’ for submission. “Our agent in Copilot Studio has reduced the time to compile reports from hours to minutes – and that’s allowing us to spend more time engaging directly with families who need our help,” says Lorena Cervantes, Family Partnerships Specialist at Centro.

Easy integration with the existing C-FIT system and data helped accelerate development. Additionally, all security features needed for the agent were already in place. “When developing on Power Platform, we have the peace of mind knowing that it's integrated with Microsoft security infrastructure. That’s a benefit that other AI development platforms simply can’t offer,” says Eric Beins, Chief Technology Officer at JourneyTeam.

As with the original C-FIT system, Power Platform has also made it easier to implement quick changes to the agent and drive a collaborative development process. “We knew that AI could help improve processes but, with Microsoft Copilot Studio, our developers built a truly customized AI tool that meets our specific needs,” says Euleta Christiansen, Senior Program & Behavior Specialist, Centro Headquarters.

A platform built for the future

Looking ahead, Centro and JourneyTeam are excited to share their C-FIT solution with other Head Start programs across the country, empowering more organizations to enhance their efficiency and focus on their core missions.

In the meantime, JourneyTeam is working on a Copilot Studio training program and workshop that will help Centro employees develop, manage and deploy agents on their own. “Power Platform enabled us to develop a solution that Centro can build on quickly and cost effectively for the next 5-10 years,” says Beins.

That kind of forward thinking excites employees at Centro. “I’m not a developer – but I can clearly see how Power Platform can empower our employees to be even more analytical and productive,” says Palza. “Tools like our agent in Copilot Studio are literally transforming the way we work and giving us more time to focus on serving our communities.”

Learn more about Centro on Instagram.

“Our agent in Copilot Studio has reduced the time to compile reports from hours to minutes – and that’s allowing us to spend more time engaging directly with families who need our help.”

Lorena Cervantes, Family Partnerships Specialist, Centro de la Familia de Utah