Here you will find meeting dates, 2-Gen action plans, and other resources related to the Austin/Travis County 2-Gen Coalition
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2-Gen Coalition Stakeholder Network
Who: The Austin/Travis County 2-Gen Coalition Stakeholder Network is comprised of community leaders and thought partners in the early childhood, out-of-school time, adult education, workforce development, affordable housing, financial stability, health, mental health, parenting support, and/or general social services sector.
Our Purpose: Stakeholder Network members work collectively to implement the Family Opportunity Roadmap: Austin/Travis County's 2-Gen Strategic Plan.
Meeting Format: Stakeholders will meet quarterly, with additional ad-hoc meetings with smaller groups as needed. A loose agenda will be sent out in advance of each meeting. Notes, slides, and materials from each meeting will be shared on MissionBox.
Meeting Goals: During Year One of strategic plan implementation, the goals of the Stakeholder Network meetings include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Keep partners up-to-date on strategic plan implementation
- Monitor our progress toward community goals
- Provide opportunities for stakeholders to connect with new people and build relationships across sectors
Background:
All families deserve access to opportunity. However, systems that perpetuate intergenerational poverty threaten the well-being of Austin’s residents and its economy, leaving far too many families behind. Although there are many promising anti-poverty programs, most focus solely on adults with low income or their children, missing the opportunity to foster economic mobility for whole families. There are numerous efforts to grow the economy by developing the local workforce in the Austin area; however, the lack of quality, affordable child care and out-of-school time (OST) programming remain significant barriers to participation in education, training, and the workforce for parents, particularly those with low incomes. Similarly, the benefits of quality early childhood education (ECE) and OST are well known, but the likelihood of a child succeeding later in life is still affected by the education and income levels of his or her parents.
Research indicates that a dual-generational (2-Gen) approach to whole-family support can lead to better outcomes for both generations of a family. Over the course of 2018, nearly 200 individual stakeholders from Austin and Travis County came together to develop the Austin/Travis County 2-Gen Strategic Plan in order to integrate the 2-Gen approach within our entire community. The Plan articulates common goals and strategies to strengthen and expand 2-Gen services and resources for Austin families.
The 2-Gen approach is both a strategy for economic development and a mechanism to create economic and social opportunity for families. Rather than being a new or different intervention in and of itself, the 2-Gen model is a paradigm for thinking about social service delivery in which parents and children from the same family are served deliberately and simultaneously, leading to greater economic mobility over time. This benefits participating families as well as the economy. 2-Gen approaches work to better coordinate services across generations and to better coordinate systems and sectors that are traditionally siloed.
2-Gen approaches can take various shapes and forms, but most encompass some combination of the following supports and services:
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For children: ECE for children 0-5, OST programs for children six and older, mentorship.
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For parents: parenting classes, financial education, English as a Second Language (ESL), Adult Basic Education (ABE), high school diploma or equivalency (HSE), postsecondary education (associate or bachelor’s degree programs), workforce training, and certification programs.
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For whole families: home visiting, health and mental health services, stable housing, financial stability, case management, and networks of support.
Key Resources:
- Family Opportunity Roadmap: The 2-Gen Strategic Plan for Austin/Travis County
- Video: "Family Opportunity, Two Generations At A Time"
- Website: UWATX and 2-Gen
- UWATX Family Pathways Staff Directory:
Sue Carpenter Chief Programs Officer
sue.carpenter@uwatx.org
Alison Bentley
Director of Data and Evaluation alison.bentley@uwatx.org Paola Silvestre
Director, Family Pathways paola.silvestre@uwatx.org Carlisia McCord
Program Manager, Family Pathways carlisia.mccord@uwatx.org Cathy Doggett 2-Gen Implementation Consultant (part time) cathy.doggett1@gmail.com
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United Way For Greater Austin
Austin/travis County 2-Gen Coalition
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