Resource Library

Training & Orientation Tools for Public & Private CAA Tripartite Boards

Framing Two-Generation Approaches to Supporting Families

To build a larger constituency for innovative and robust approaches to social policy and social services, 2Gen advocates need to communicate clearly and carefully. This framing “playbook,” from the FrameWorks Institute and Ascend at Aspen Institute is intended for “the choir:” agency leaders, social service professionals, advocates, and families leading their communities and constituencies toward two-generation approaches for supporting families. This resource provides guidance on making intentional choices about where to start, what to emphasize, and what to leave unsaid.

Framing Two-Generation Approaches to Supporting Families: Messaging Guide

This guide from Ascend at the Aspen Institute provides topline messages, suggestions for using language to make work more compelling, and ideas for bringing 2Gen work to life. Messages are based on results of research and analysis by the FrameWorks Institute. Communicators and front-line staff at your organizations can use them as a filter to craft messages suited for relevant audiences, channels, and topics.

Leading by Exemplar: Instructional Models in Head Start Programs

Leading by Exemplar: Instructional Models in Head Start Programs provides in-depth information about the instructional models of five high-performing Head Start programs from across the country. The programs highlighted in this analysis — referred to throughout as Head Start exemplars — were selected because demonstrate evidence of significant positive impacts on children’s learning.

Leading by Exemplar: Data Utilization in Head Start Programs

Leading by Exemplar: Data Utilization in Head Start Programs provides in-depth information about the data utilization practices of five high-performing Head Start programs from across the country. The programs highlighted in this analysis — referred to throughout as Head Start exemplars — were selected because they demonstrate significant positive impacts on children’s learning.

Leading by Exemplar: Lessons from Head Start Programs

Leading by Exemplar: Lessons from Head Start Programs is a synthesis of findings drawn from an in-depth analysis of five high-performing Head Start programs from across the country. The programs highlighted in this analysis — referred to throughout as Head Start exemplars — were selected because they demonstrate significant positive impacts on children’s learning.

Leading by Exemplar: Case Studies of Head Start Programs

Leading by Exemplar: Case Studies of Head Start Programs is an in-depth analysis of five high-performing Head Start programs from across the country. The programs highlighted in this analysis — referred to throughout as Head Start exemplars — were selected because they demonstrate significant positive impacts on children’s learning.

Accelerating Postsecondary Success for Parents: Identifying and Addressing Mental Health Needs

With 22 percent of the undergraduate student population comprised of parents, policymakers and institutions must explore the unique needs of this population and address the challenges that may prevent parents from attaining their degree. This includes determining what systems, services, and approaches best support their mental health needs. This brief examines opportunities for policymakers and academic institutions to adapt existing mental health services in order to meet the unique needs of students who are parents and help them complete their degree. (April 2019)

Aligning Affordable Housing Efforts with Actions to End Homelessness

In many communities, conversations on housing affordability and those about homelessness are happening in different places among different groups of people. The following strategies and resources will support communities in aligning those conversations and will improve progress on preventing and ending homelessness.

Well After Service: Veteran Reintegration and American Communities

Most veterans successfully transition out of uniform and into civilian life. However, some recent veterans face service-related challenges, and there is no government agency, program or mechanism that properly and holistically addresses their wellness. Instead, communities across America, many of which are unfamiliar with the military and service-related needs, are left to support those recent veterans that need assistance reintegrating into civilian life.

Why Should Nurses Know About Social Determinants of Health?

Nurses have the ability to address social determinants of health in patients and refer those with health barriers to resources. Doing so can have a long-term impact on patient health.

Dotte Agency: A Participatory Design Model for Community Health

As community activists resist racial injustice, food insecurity, and infrastructural delinquency, many groups are attempting to articulate the voice of the citizen. It is within this landscape that architects have historically struggled to find common ground to afford democratic access for citizens to engage in discussions about the future of their city. Based upon surrogate models of other professions, there has emerged a proactive movement towards Social Impact Design. Like many urban core areas, our community faces a health epidemic compounded by poverty. In response to requests for collaboration, and through cross-disciplinary academic partnerships in both public health and social welfare, we have begun to leverage design advocacy to improve health outcomes. This has evolved into an alternative model of practice that advances public design through interdisciplinary, adaptive and incremental spatial agency. It is a sustainable practice that fosters conversations and supports events originating from within the community. Our approach seeks to scaffold an infrastructure of public health through methods of participatory design and advocacy. Through new forms of design intelligence and collaborative design tools, our critical spatial practice demonstrates new ways for how architectural design can be relevant to society.

Human-Centered Design: Bringing humanity into the built environment

With my experience entrenched in the built environment, I came to Greater Good Studio (GGS) curious to learn more about human-centered design (HCD). During my time here, I have really been pushed to reconsider what it means to place the user’s experience at the center of a design process, particularly in the context of built environment design and community development.

Community Engagement Matters (Now More Than Ever)

Data-driven and evidence-based practices present new opportunities for public and social sector leaders to increase impact while reducing inefficiency. But in adopting such approaches, leaders must avoid the temptation to act in a top-down manner. Instead, they should design and implement programs in ways that engage community members directly in the work of social change.

Making It Real: Only Authentic Community Engagement Can Be Equitable

We cannot expect those who control the system to make the changes that will impact people with lived experience. Even those organizations with the most genuine intentions can contribute negatively and unknowingly to conditions that oppress those who are marginalized. It is nearly impossible to manufacture solutions to solve problems when one is incapable of understanding the entirety of one’s conditions. It is only through a process of authentic community engagement where individuals with lived experience can be included the discussion as decision makers and drivers of those solutions.