Two-generation programs - which provide workforce development, skills training, and social capital development to parents while their children attend quality early childhood education programs - are a promising anti-poverty strategy and are gaining interest across the country. Early childhood education programs, like Head Start and Early Head Start, are central resources for improving the life opportunities of low-income children. Yet, few early learning centers explicitly target parents for postsecondary education and career training, despite the fact that increased parental education and family income are associated with better outcomes for children. The Community Action Project of Tulsa County, Oklahoma (CAP Tulsa) is at the forefront of innovation, implementation, and evaluation of two-generation programming. CAP Tulsa is a large, comprehensive antipoverty agency that focuses on early childhood education and economic security for families; it also serves as the Head Start and Early Head Start grantee for Tulsa County. It is one of the only fully operational, two-generation human capital programs that combine early childhood education services with stackable career training for parents. In 2010, CAP Tulsa was the recipient of a large federal award from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to bring its novel two-generation program to scale. (Excerpt from author introduction)
