It has long been recognized that organizations that provide education, health and other services to children and families do not work together easily, although coordination is recognized as desirable. This exploration of facilitation strategies in service coordination draws upon the study by the Center on Education in the Inner Cities of projects in Houston (Texas), Chicago (Illinois), East Los Angeles (California), and Minneapolis (Minnesota). The new perspective on how much institutions matter, characterized as the "New Institutionalism," suggests that there are two key insights to consider in exploring the institutional side of service coordination. The first is that institutions under environmental pressure tend to protect their "core" technologies, and may tend to become more fragmented under pressure to change. The second insight is that deeply embedded routines, rules, and scripts are those most likely to result in eventual collaboration if they are taken into account by nurturing collaboration from within. Efforts to promote collaboration requires a better understanding of the kinds of technical assistance needed. (Contains 44 references.) (SLD)