Integrating Family Voice into 2Gen Program Design

The Generational Opportunities to Achieve Long-Term Success program (GOALS), takes a two-generation (2Gen) approach to improve the overall wellbeing of families experiencing homelessness by enhancing self-sufficiency through residentially-based whole family services (parent, child and family). GOALS serves families primarily from the City of Aurora, Colorado, and Arapahoe County, Colorado, who are eligible for or currently receiving public assistance and who are currently experiencing homelessness or are at-risk of becoming homeless. GOALS is a collaborative effort led by Family Tree and Arapahoe County Human Services in partnership with diverse government and community-based service providers.

According to Ascend at the Aspen Institute, best practices for developing a framework for two-generational (Two-Gen) approaches to addressing poverty suggest that including Family Voice should be a key component in any service model and that interventions are most successful when they reflect the needs of the community it is intended to serve. CPR developed the Family Voice framework to be incorporated into the GOALS program design through a review of relevant literature, guidance from Ascend at the Aspen Institute, and discussions with and review of documents from the Jefferson Prosperity Project (JPP) – a model 2Gen program located in Jefferson County, Colorado. Additionally in order to gain feedback from the families who would be served by the GOALS program, the CPR conducted three focus groups with fifteen parents who received benefits and/or services from Arapahoe County who had a history of housing instability.

This brief summarizes what was learned about incorporating the Family Voice framework into the GOALS 2-Gen program.