BOSTON — There are ways to help people break the poverty cycle, and Malden state Rep. Steven Ultrino (D-Malden) said successful approaches aid two generations living in poverty.
“We want to look at how to generate better outcomes for families by assisting both children and parents together,” Ultrino said.
He is co-sponsoring an act establishing a Special Commission on Two-Generation Approaches to Childhood Education. The newly-formed commission would “make recommendations on the implementation of two-generation systems … focusing on creating opportunities for and addressing needs of both vulnerable parents and children together.”
Ultrino said a two-generation approach to fighting poverty involves supporting a family’s second generation — the children — with their education while also assisting the parent or parents with work and job-related help.
The commission outlined in Ultrino’s and his co-sponsors’ legislation has a mandate to gather information and input from service providers, families, educational institutions, and others and also review and identify best practices learned from similar efforts in other states.
The commission’s goal is to “form the core components of a model two-generation approach for parents and their children and also to establish a two-generational school and employment readiness plan to promote long-term learning and economic success for low-income families by addressing intergenerational barriers to school readiness and workforce readiness with intensified workforce training and targeted education, coupled with related support services,” according to the legislation.
Ultrino is sponsoring two-generation legislation in the Massachusetts House while a companion bill moves through the state Senate.
The commission would also be tasked with identifying and making recommendations for a new and sustainable funding source for two-generation approaches.
