Summary: This is an interim evaluation Washington State Incentive Grant from an initial assessment occurring in the spring of 2001. Collaborative assessment processes in twenty-four counties or bi-county combinations were studied. Over one-third of those counties described the process and its results as positive. Over one-half had mixed experiences. One county reported a largely negative experience and had results they did not feel were useful due to a lack of current data. The initial collaborative assessment process yielded both expected and unexpected payoffs. Significant, but not insurmountable, issues remain, the greatest of which involve collaboration at the state level.