On Sept. 8, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Center for Family Economic Success convened a two-day meeting and program visit to the Community Action Project (CAP) of Tulsa County. Participants included the Ray Marshall Center, represented by Dr. Chris King, as well as foundation representatives, education and social services practitioners, and social policy researchers. CAP Tulsa is a non-profit agency that works to break the cycle of poverty by providing targeted programs and services for low-income Americans living in Tulsa County. To achieve this objective, the organization uses a strategy that integrates high quality early childhood education with innovative financial and workforce services for the family.
On the first day, meeting organizers provided an overview various CAP Tulsa programs, including CareerAdvance®, a workforce development program for the parents of children in CAP’s early education centers. CareerAdvance® started in 2008 and researchers from the Ray Marshall Center led the design of the program’s workforce training model. In contrast to other workforce development programs, CareerAdvance® combines sector-based skills training and adult education program, currently focusing on jobs in the health sector, with counseling and other supportive services to help parents achieve high career potential employment.
On the second day, meeting participants discussed current investments in and lessons learned from various dual generation programs. Other key topics discussed included how to scale up dual generation programs and how to improve efficiency and achieve long-term program sustainability. This meeting is part of the Casey Foundation’s ongoing efforts to explore strategies that advances the Foundation’s mission to create better futures for vulnerable children and families.
To further the discussion, the Ray Marshall Center, along with the Foundation for Child Development and the Aspen Institute’s Ascend Program, will host a dual generation policy forum in Washington D.C. in mid-October.
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