A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation aims to help funders strengthen the evidence for two-generation approaches.

According to the report Strengthening the Foundation, two-generation programs have evolved into a promising strategy to interrupt intergenerational poverty and improve outcomes for children and their parents.

The good news is that public and private funders can target their evaluation and funding strategies to build evidence for two-generation components and strategies.

Key ways to strengthen this evidence base — as outlined in the report — include:

  • building programs to ensure a sufficient sample size and enough variation to test;
  • assessing a program’s readiness for evaluation (asking, for example, if the program has a well-developed theory of change and appropriate data system in place);
  • investing in research designs that include implementation studies, longitudinal data and evaluation across multiple sites; and
  • communicating findings and insights in an accessible way for program leaders and policymakers.

Read the full article by The Annie E. Casey Foundation about funder approaches