Contacts: Brittany Gavrilles, Office of Senator DiDomenico, Brittany.Gavrilles@masenate.gov / 617-722-1650

Greeley O’Connor, Economic Mobility Pathways,
goconnor@empathways.org / 617-259-2946

Geoff Foster, UTEC, Inc. gfoster@utec-lowell.org / 978-930-9436

SENATOR SAL DIDOMENICO HOSTS LEGISLATIVE BRIEFING ON REDUCING CHRONIC FAMILY POVERTY USING TWO-GENERATIONAL STRATEGIES

What: Senator Sal DiDomenico will host a legislative briefing on behalf of the Senate Kids First Working Group with the Massachusetts Two Generations Disrupting Poverty Coalition to educate legislators on emerging trends in programs and policies that focus on two-generational strategies and why they are necessary to disrupt the cycle of poverty. The briefing will inform members on two measures under consideration this session by the Legislature: a Multi-Generational Anti-Poverty Pilot budget line item and “An Act Establishing A Special Commission on Two-Generational Approaches to Childhood Education.”

When: Thursday, March 2, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Where: Massachusetts State House, Room 222

Who: The session will include remarks from Yvette Sanchez-Fuentes, Assistant Director for Policy, Ascend at the Aspen Institute and former Director of Head Start in the Department of Health & Human Services; Charles E. Carter, Deputy Director and Chief Strategy Officer, Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University; and a panel discussion of parent participants will share personal stories about the value of Two-Gen programming to improve outcomes for low-income children and parents in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Two Generations Disrupting Poverty (MA 2-GDP) Coalition is comprised of: Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester; EMPath; Horizons for Homeless Children; Endicott College; Jeremiah Program – Boston; Phoenix Charter Academy Network–Chelsea, Lawrence, Springfield; United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley; and UTEC, Inc.

Available for Comment:

Senator Sal DiDomenico
Ruthie Liberman, Vice President of Public Policy, EMPath
Geoff Foster, Director of Organizing and Policymaking, UTEC
Chelsea Sedani, Director of Advocacy, EMPath
Sunindiya Bhalla, Senior Director Community Impact, United Way

Highlighted Budget Line Item:

FAMILY MENTORING PILOT PROGRAM 3000-7020 For a three-year family mentoring pilot program administered through a contractor to promote intergenerational economic self-sufficiency; provided, that the pilot program shall operate within existing service delivery systems including, but not limited to, after-school and out-of-school programs, head start, early head start, early intervention programs, maternal child health home visiting programs and community health programs, to provide additional support and mentoring; provided further, that the pilot program shall work with parents and children and other adults living in the home; provided further, that through integrated services, overarching pilot program goals for adults shall include: (i) an increase in financial resources including earned income; (ii) an increase in housing and family stability; and (iii) a reduction of debt and increased savings; provided further, that overarching pilot program goals for children shall include: (a) improved school performance or school readiness; and (b) improved executive functioning; provided further, that the selected contractor shall have demonstrated, with scientific research and metric-based evidence, successful outcomes in providing intergenerational programs; provided further, that preference shall be given to contractors with experience running programs with a home-visitation component; provided further, that caseload per mentor shall not exceed 20 families; provided further, that not less than $75,000 shall be expended for an evaluation of the effectiveness of the pilot program; and provided further, that any unexpended funds appropriated for this item shall not revert but shall be made available for the purposes of this item until June 30, 2020

Highlighted Bill:

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A SPECIAL COMMISSION ON TWO-GENERATION APPROACHES TO CHILDHOOD EDUCATION SD1140/HD2328 Establish a special commission to study and make recommendations concerning the implementation of two-generation systems in the Commonwealth, as defined by focusing on creating opportunities for and addressing needs of both vulnerable parents and children together. The commission shall: (1) solicit information and input from service providers, families, educational institutions, and any other parties or entities the commission deems appropriate; review and identify best practices learned from similar efforts in other states and codify the core components of a model two-generation approach for parents and their children; (2) establish a two-generational school/employment readiness plan to promote long-term learning and economic success for low-income families by addressing intergenerational barriers to school readiness and workforce readiness with intensified workforce training and targeted education, coupled with related support services; (3) study and make recommendations for inter-agency resources and services and to best maximize existing state resources available to fund an expansion of two-generation approaches for parents and their children; (4) develop recommendations to measure and evaluate progress for both children and their parents through specified dual generation approaches that result in improved outcomes; (5) identify and make recommendations for a new and sustainable funding source for two-generation approaches; and (6) establish a definition for “Two Generation Approach” for the commonwealth.

For more information, please visit https://www.empathways.org/our-work/programs/intergen