As part of its strategic plan beginning in 2015, ChildCareGroup adopted an intentional focus on serving children and parents together. Our efforts are based on the on-going research of the Aspen Institute’s Ascend Network.
So, what is the 2Generation Approach? It’s a poverty alleviation strategy that links together five key components in an intensive, sustained strategy to help lift families out of poverty. The key components of the Two Generation model are:
- Early childhood education
- Post-secondary education & employment pathways
- Health and well-being
- Economic assets
- Social capital
Early childhood education is and will remain ChildCareGroup’s core focus. By providing children with the highest quality early education, we prepare them for success in school and life. Our holistic program model has always included support services for parents, but the Two Generation Approach suggests a more intensive, intentional strategy. As a result, we have strengthened our collaborations with community partners that provide services to address the other components of the 2Gen Approach: access to resume building and job training programs, GED and ESL classes, health screenings, parent-directed education programs, and more. By using a place-based program approach (delivering programs on-site at our centers) we increase parent participation by reducing barriers.
To measure the effectiveness of our efforts we are using a data-driven decision-making approach to establish specific goals and track outcomes.
