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Family Opportunity Roadmap
Austin/Travis County
2-Generation Strategic Plan
2019-2023
Table of Contents
Introduction
to 2-Gen
Acknowledgements
Support &
Endorsements
Community
Context
Action
Plan
Policy
Priorities
Introduction
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.[1] 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.[2]
Research indicates that a dual-generational (2-Gen) approach to whole-family support can lead to better outcomes for both generations of a family.[3] 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 (this Plan) in order to integrate the 2-Gen approach within our entire community. This Plan – the first community-wide strategic plan for 2-Gen in the nation – articulates common goals and strategies to strengthen and expand 2-Gen services and resources for Austin families.
About the 2-Gen Approach
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.
Economic mobility across generations – or the ability for children to do better financially than their parents – has diminished over time. Austin is no exception, with lower mobility rates than many major cities.[4] The 2-Gen model aims to reverse this trend, helping families with low income create an intergenerational cycle of opportunity by intentionally focusing on the separate but linked needs of both parent and child.
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