Effective university-community collaborations can contribute directly to the welfare of children, youth, and families if the collaboration is mutually beneficial. As Tiamiye (2000, 29) states, "little is, however, known about participants' views of university-community partnerships." By examining the agencies' perspectives in the process of forming new collaborations, the university see the "problems" of such a venture through the eyes of others. This paper outlines the process of using small-group meeting results and survey results to determine the perceptions of human service agencies about the barriers to forming successful collaborations and about successful strategies to overcome those barriers.