In 2012, the Utah Legislature passed the Intergenerational Poverty Mitigation Act, recognizing that children in the cycle of poverty and welfare dependency experience barriers to stability and opportunity. This bill requires the Utah Department of Workforce Services to establish and maintain a system to track intergenerational poverty related data to identify at-risk children and other groups, to identify trends, and to assist case workers, social scientists, and government officials in the study and development of plans and programs to help individuals and families break the cycle of poverty.

This two-minute video details the impact of toxic stress on brain development. It is part of a three-part series produced in 2011 by the Harvard Center on the Developing Child and the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.

This career exploration tool from the O*NET Resource Center helps caseworkers understand their clients’ strengths and areas in which they would like to explore further education or training. It helps identify occupations that fit individuals’ capacities and can help clients determine what kind of jobs they can do well.

In this presentation, Stephanie M. Jones, Marie and Max Kargman Associate Professor in Human Development and Urban Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, describes a new intervention that links the science of brain development with supports for adults and children. The intervention focuses on building executive function skills in children, teachers, and parents by interrupting the stress cycle and putting the front of the brain back in control.

Approximately 6.7 million young adults in America are out of school and out of work. In order to answer questions about assistance to help young adults access employment and opportunities that service providers can leverage, this report from the Aspen Institute documents the results of a survey in which hundreds of service providers described their experiences serving this population. The service providers gave insight into strategies and challenges for connecting young adults aged 18-29 to employment and explained what they consider to be good employment outcomes.

Between 70 million and 100 million Americans, or as many as one in three American adults, have some type of criminal record. Furthermore, between 33 million and 36.5 million children in the United States, or nearly half of all American children, have at least one parent with a criminal record. Even a minor criminal record can present obstacles to employment, housing, education, public assistance, financial empowerment, and more. This report advocates for a two-generation approach to address barriers to opportunity associated with having a criminal record. Additionally, the report offers policy recommendations to give parents with criminal records and their children opportunities to succeed.

This document from the EMPath explains what is meant by the term "coaching," both in terms of definition and practice. The resource will present the reasons coaching is used at EMPath, define the basic components of how coaching is completed, and focus on usable information for practitioners and policymakers.

This report from the Foundation for Child Development highlights the benefits of dual-generation programs in terms of children’s outcomes. Specifically, research shows the many disparities between children whose mothers had not graduated from high school and children whose mothers had obtained a bachelor’s degree. Children whose mothers had not graduated from high school experience higher rates of poverty, lower rates of mathematics and reading proficiencies, a lower likelihood of graduating high school on time, and poorer overall health. The report also spotlights dual-generation programs in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Los Angeles, California. Finally, the authors offer policy options for all levels of government to develop and implement successful dual-generation programs.

In most of the two-generational strategies and programs, the attention is mainly focused on mothers. However, this brief from the Center for Law and Social Policy explains the early evidence from research that shows if noncustodial parents - mostly young men - are successfully employed and in healthy relationships in their own lives, they can also contribute to more successful outcomes for their children, both financially and emotionally.