Projects
Support for Agape Child & Family Services’ 2Gen Model
2018-2023
Project Overview
Objective
To help document 2Gen’s implementation, capture the experiences of the families 2Gen serves, and build staff’s capacity to strengthen program delivery.
Project Motivation
Agape and the Annie E. Casey Foundation sought to refine 2Gen to deepen the supports its families received. Mathematica’s content and methodological expertise, and our history of working to support communities of color and people experiencing low income, positioned us as a partner for these efforts.
Prepared For
Agape Child & Family Services
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Our work with Agape and the Annie E. Casey Foundation seeks to empower and uplift Memphis families by strengthening Agape’s place-based, two-generation model.
Agape Child & Family Services is a faith-based organization dedicated to serving individuals and families experiencing poverty and improving communities in the Memphis, Tennessee, area. 2Gen is its place-based, two-generation program model comprised of different initiatives that support the whole child and family. These initiatives provide case management and wraparound services focused on early childhood development, spiritual and emotional wellbeing, youth in schools, postsecondary and workforce pathways for adults, housing stability, and increased social capital and economic assets.
Mathematica first partnered with Agape to document 2Gen’s implementation and the experiences of the families who were being served. This component included a survey of Agape’s Families in Transition initiative, focused on providing housing support to families fleeing domestic violence. A second component focused on integrating research, evaluation, equity principles, and capacity building to strengthen services for two of 2Gen’s initiatives: Stars (youth mentoring) and TeamWorks (workforce development). For this effort, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (Casey), Mathematica, Casey, and Agape partnered to use the Learn, Innovate, Improve (LI2) framework to build staff’s capacity to meet families’ needs during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. To advance capacity building, Mathematica will train Agape staff to lead program change using LI2, and Mathematica will create and disseminate products that share lessons about helping two-generation staff improve services in a way that is equitable and focused on families’ needs.
Mathematica first partnered with Agape to document 2Gen’s implementation and the experiences of the families who were being served. This component included a survey of Agape’s Families in Transition initiative, focused on providing housing support to families fleeing domestic violence. A second component focused on integrating research, evaluation, equity principles, and capacity building to strengthen services for two of 2Gen’s initiatives: Stars (youth mentoring) and TeamWorks (workforce development). For this effort, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (Casey), Mathematica, Casey, and Agape partnered to use the Learn, Innovate, Improve (LI2) framework to build staff’s capacity to meet families’ needs during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. To advance capacity building, Mathematica will train Agape staff to lead program change using LI2, and Mathematica will create and disseminate products that share lessons about helping two-generation staff improve services in a way that is equitable and focused on families’ needs.
Evidence & Insights From This Project
Publication
Learning to Adapt: Helping Agape Child & Family Services Use Rapid-Cycle Learning to Drive Equitable Change
Mathematica partnered with Agape Child & Family Services and the Annie E. Casey Foundation to use rapid-cycle learning and equity principles to help Agape adapt services for two of its place-based initiatives. This report describes the partners’ change efforts and lessons learned from the work.
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