Federal agencies have produced a variety of resources and research related to the development and implementation of two-generation approaches. These resources include fact sheets, issue briefs, toolkits, webinars, reports, and program guidance. Items are listed here in reverse chronological order by target audience.
Resources for Practitioners and Service Providers
Webinar recordings: Building Foundations for Economic Mobility (BFEM) webinar series (HHS, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Head Start, multiple dates)
- Provides information on how Head Start programs can partner with families on financial, career, and education goals. Topics include Getting Started; Building Financial Capability; and Employment, Training, Education, and Career.
Web page: Shared Family Care and Shared Parenting resources (HHS, ACF, Children’s Bureau, updated 2020)
- Identifies resources on shared family care, a child welfare approach in which children and their parent(s) are placed with a host family, and on shared parenting, an approach that focuses on shared parenting between a birth family and foster family.
Report: Home Visiting’s Two-Generation Approach: Supporting Primary Caregiver Education, Family Self-Sufficiency, and Children’s Well-Being (HHS, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, May 2019)
- Includes an overview and case studies demonstrating how a two-generation approach is implemented within the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program.
Webinar recording: Two-Generation/Whole Family Approaches in Anti-Trafficking Programming (HHS, ACF, Office of Trafficking in Persons, March 2019)
- Focuses on two-generation and whole family approaches for providing supportive and comprehensive services for individuals who have experienced trafficking and their families.
Brief: Applying Whole Family Approaches in Responsible Fatherhood Programs (HHS, ACF, Office of Family Assistance, 2018)
- Describes the whole family program approach, identifies ways in which these approaches might be applied to the work of responsible fatherhood programs, and lists additional helpful resources from non-governmental organizations.
Fact sheet: Whole Family Approaches to Working With Families (HHS, ACF, Office of Family Assistance, 2017)
- This fact sheet for fatherhood program providers defines whole family approaches and provides other related information and resource links.
Webinar recording: Two-Generation Approaches to Working with Fathers (HHS, ACF, Office of Family Assistance, July 2016)
- Presents a summary of two-generation research and discusses applications for fatherhood work, including opportunities for father-focused programs to link with established educational or health services for children.
Webinar recording: Breaking the Poverty Cycle and Opening Doors to Opportunity for TANF Families: Developing a Two-Generation Approach (HHS, ACF, Office of Family Assistance, May 2015)
- Includes speakers from the Office of Family Assistance, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Community Action Project-Tulsa, and Utah Department of Workforce Services describing their experiences and lessons learned implementing and assessing two-generation programs. The recording of this webinar is audio only.
Brief: Legends Park West Redevelopment Retains Sense of Community (HUD, Office of Policy Development and Research, September 2014)
- Describes how a Memphis Hope VI program, which received a Secretary award for Public-Philanthropic partnership in 2013, formed partnerships and fundraising efforts to initiate Comprehensive Community Supportive Services including a two-generation approach.
Resources for states and policymakers
Report: Whole Family Approach to Jobs (HHS, ACF, Office of Regional Operations, November 2019)
- Reports on the Whole Family Approach to Jobs initiative, which was a partnership of ACF ORO’s Region 1 Office, the National Conference of States Legislatures (NCSL), New England states and philanthropy. The goal of the initiative was to help leaders in the New England improve family well-being while also increasing economic security through employment.
Report: Human Trafficking Leadership Academy (HTLA) Class 4 Recommendations on 2-Generation/Whole Family Approach for Post-Secondary and Employment Opportunities and Economic Assets (HHS, ACF, Office on Trafficking in Persons, August 2019)
- Presents the work of fellows of the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy (HTLA), a team of professionals and survivor leaders, in response to the following question: How can state and local governments help survivors and their families reach financial stability as defined in the two-generation/whole family approach for postsecondary and employment opportunities, as well as achievement of economic assets, using social capital and a self-determined family as key components to thriving?
Webinar recording: 2Gen Early Innovator: The Colorado Experience (HHS, ACF, Office of Regional Operations, October 2016)
- Highlights Colorado’s two-generation efforts. Reggie Bicha, Executive Director of Colorado’s Department of Human Services, shares experiences, insights and lessons-learned for macro-level policy and programmatic change.
Webinar recording: Integrating 2-Gen strategies into TANF Programs (HHS, ACF, Office of Family Assistance, April 2016)
- Provides an overview of the policy components of an intentional two-generation approach and offered tools and resources that may be applicable to the audience’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs. Presenters also provided planning, policy, and implementation strategies and lessons learned from their own experiences with two-generation integration.
Resources for multiple audiences
Web page: Family-Centered Treatment resources (HHS, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare, multiple dates)
- Provides a variety of federal resources on family-centered treatment for substance use disorders.
Report: HTLA Class 3 Recommendations on 2-Generation, Whole Family Services to Prevent Child Trafficking (HHS, ACF, Office on Trafficking in Persons, January 2019)
- Presents the work of a team of allied professionals and survivor leaders, fellows of the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy (HTLA), in response to the following questions: Using trauma-informed principles and survivor-informed practices, what strategies could reduce risk factors and increase protective factors within families that prevent the trafficking of minors? How can anti-trafficking efforts incorporate 2-generation and whole family approaches to programs and policies?
Webinar recording: Building Blocks for Early Childhood: Integrating 2Gen through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), and Early Care and Education (HHS, ACF, Office of Regional Operations, (December 2016)
- Highlights one state, Connecticut, and one local jurisdiction, Garrett County (Maryland), that are leveraging various ACF funding streams for parent and early childhood supports.
Program guidance (Information Memoranda)
CSBG IM #149: Community Services Block Grants: Strengthening Outcomes Through Two-Generation Approaches (HHS, ACF, Office of Community Services, August 2016)
- Encourages states, territories, tribes, state Community Action Agency Associations and eligible entities to implement two-generation approaches to serving children and parents together through the Community Services Block Grants (CSBG) program.
TANF-ACF-IM-2016-03: Strengthening TANF Outcomes By Developing Two-Generation Approaches To Build Economic Security (HHS, ACF, Office of Family Assistance, April 2016)
- Discusses opportunities for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) agencies to strengthen program outcomes through two-generation approaches. Strategies discussed include coordination and partnerships and potential alternative uses for TANF funds.
Research and Evaluation
Project: Integrated Approaches to Supporting Child Development and Improving Family Economic Security, 2015-2018 (HHS, ACF, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, 2015-2018)
- The goal of this completed research project was to improve understanding of approaches that intentionally combine intensive, high quality, adult-focused services with intensive, high-quality, child-focused programs. Research products from this project include:
- Brief: Using Research and Evaluation to Support Programs that Promote Parents’ Economic Security and Children’s Well-being (February 2018) Describes how research and evaluation can help program leaders improve two-generation approaches.
- Brief: Conceptual Frameworks for Intentional Approaches to Improving Economic Security and Child Well-being (February 2018). Describes a pair of conceptual frameworks to help stakeholders structure plans for data collection and program evaluation.
- Brief: Features of Programs Designed to Help Families Achieve Economic Security and Promote Child Well-being (December 2017) Identifies common features of programs that offer integrated services to support both the economic security of families and the development and wellbeing of children.
- Report: Exploration of Integrated Approaches to Supporting Child Development & Improving Family Economic Security (December 2017) Summarizes the project overall
Report: Implementation of the Federal Rural IMPACT Demonstration (HHS, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (November 2016)
- Reports on the Rural Integration Models for Parents and Children to Thrive, or Rural IMPACT, demonstration, launched in 2015 to address rural poverty and the need for two-generation supports. This report presents an overview of the demonstration sites’ activities, accomplishments, and challenges as they planned and began implementing during the first year of the initiative.