A Two-Generation Paradigm: Education,

Employment, and Economic Assets For

Under-Resourced Communities

Memphis, Tennessee Collaboration

March 24, 2019

The Two-Generation Paradigm

Two-generation approaches focus

on creating opportunities for and

addressing needs of both children and the

adults in their lives together. The approach

recognizes that families come in all different

shapes and sizes and that families define

themselves. - Ascend, The Aspen Institute

Our Community

History

2Gen Strategy

Impacts

Challenges Forward

OUR COMMUNITY

Ranked 2nd highest in country for overall poverty and childhood

poverty rates for MSAs with more than a million people

United States has a poverty rate of 13.4% Child poverty rate is 18.4%

Tennessee has a poverty rate of 15% Child poverty rate is 21%

Shelby County has a poverty rate of 18.8% Child poverty rate is 30%

Memphis MSA has a poverty rate of 17% Child poverty rate is 27%

Memphis has a poverty rate of 24.6% Child poverty rate is 39.0%

January Unemployment Rate

United States 4.4% - Tennessee 3.0 - Shelby County 3.6% - Memphis 4%

LWDA provided services to 36,796 individuals

Transportation: Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) is one of the

largest transit operators in the state of Tennessee, transporting customers in

the City of Memphis and parts of Shelby County on fixed-route buses,

paratransit vehicles and vintage rail trolleys.

➢ Operating budget is roughly $63 million, and $28.4 million

➢Service miles: 280 square miles - 706,976 population

➢ FY 2018 Bus ridership: 6.3 million passenger trips

➢ Trolley (rail) ridership: 113,819 passenger trips

➢ FY 2018 MATAplus ridership: 194,694 passenger trips

Bus Trolley MATAplus MATA Traveler TRANLOC Omnilert

OUR COMMUNITY

Education: Research shows 21% of school performance is impacted by

the formal school work (school leaders, teachers, curriculum, etc.).

Research also shows 61% of impacts on academics is based on inequities

and injustices of poverty and other external factors in the communities

families live.

➢ Largest school district in Tennessee and one of the top 25 largest

districts in the nation serving approximately 91,800 students in 2018

OUR COMMUNITY

Nearly 60% Students Economically Disadvantaged

860+ Homeless students

92% Underrepresented Minorities

52% Kindergarten Readiness

94% Attendance Rate

15% Suspension Rate

79% Graduation Rate

Teenage and Single Adult Parenting Mothers

➢ 6% of all 2017 births were to teenagers ages 15 to 19, with an additional

32% to women ages 20 to 24

• 78% of all teenage and single adult parenting mothers live below the

200% of Federal Poverty Level guidelines

• 84% of children in poverty live in single adult parenting families

• 20% of Memphis single adult parenting mothers lack a high school

diploma or equivalent

Crime with resulting trauma are key underlying factors impacting

families

➢ Memphis recorded 184 homicides last year, a 5% increase from 2017

52% of Shelby County adults experienced a traumatic event during

childhood (35% served with 4 or more ACEs)

OUR COMMUNITY

G R E AT E R M E M P H I S C H A M B E R

DRIVING TRANSFORMATIONALCHANGE

Presentation for Agape Child & Family Services

MEMPHIS OVERVIEW

Tri-State Area Rail, River, Runway, RoadMetro PopulationMemphis Population

1.35M670,000K

Economic Growth

For Al l!

P – Publ ic Pol icy

E – Economic Development

W – Workforce Development

GREATER MEMPHIS CHAMBER GOAL

CRITICAL CHALLENGES

Workforce

15,000 – 21,000

jobs available

for which there

is no trained

workforce

Employees

transported

from other

states to fill

void.

Lack of

vocational

education, no

pipeline.

Retiring Baby

Boomers

amplify the

need for skilled

workers.

Automation and

Digitization

threaten

employment

opportunities.

Roadmap to Success –

C u r r e n t P r o j e c t s i n t h e P i p e l i n e• New Projects: 24

• New Jobs: 7,139

• Average Wage: $70,709.00

• Capital Investment: $2,260,312,000.00

A c t i v e P ro j e c t s : 2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 8• Total Active Projects: 68

• New Jobs: 9,673

• Average Wage: $50,232

• Capital Investment: $3,168,512,671

Wo r k fo r c e S u m m i t – Fa l l 2 0 1 9

• Align Memphis and Shelby County Workforce Ecosystem

• Upskill 10,000 Individuals over 2-3 Years

• Meet Current and Future Employment Needs

• Accountability and Follow-up

ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGE

E D U C ATO RS

Training and educational

providers

C O M M U N I T Y B A S E D

O R G A N I Z AT I O N S

Opportunity Youth, Reentry,

Seniors, Veterans, In School Youth,

Opportunity Adults and Others

E M P LOY E RS

Company representatives

WORKFORCE SUMMIT

Aligning the ecosystem to accelerate results

HISTORY

As a part of a strategy for directly addressing the devastating effects of

multi-generational poverty, the Tennessee Department of Human

Services contracted with Agape in 2016 to expand and enhance its

current Two-generation (2Gen) strategy. PCN is a place-based,

collective impact community transformation initiative focused on serving

under-resourced neighborhoods by connecting families with holistic

wraparound services and community relationships, services, and

resources within or near their community. Cradle to Career continuum

PCN has been operating in three large communities within Memphis

since March 2009, leveraging the resources of over 100-plus

communities, providing support, permanency, and sustainability.

Education

Education, from early childhood through postsecondary, is a core component of two-generation approaches. There is a strong correlation between low education levels and poverty.

18.08%

23.16%

20.41%

13.29%

10.98%

7.24%

5.47%

4.45%

4.00%

3.19%

0% 10% 20% 30%

Children under 15

Less than 9th grade

9th-12th grade, no diploma

High school diploma or equivalent

Some college, no Assoc. or 4-yr degree

Associate Degree

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Professional degree (such as DDS or…

Doctorate (such as PhD or EdD)

PERCENT OF POPULATION

17

2GEN STRATEGIES

GENERATIVE: Population-based health

and well-being approaches to find

solutions that get at root causes and are

implements collectively with families and

communities

INTEGRATIVE: Working across sectors

to address problems at their root through

data analytics and a customized service

array.

COLLABORATIVE: Working towards a

single0door approach to link services

across programs and agencies, easing

accessing and reducing duplication.

REGULATIVE: Accurate and timely

administration of programs to assure

compliance and integrity; focus on

efficiency and accountability for priority

use of funds.

3/21/2019

IMPACTS

Poverty: For the program year, 3.8% of families served exited poverty

level which exceeds the annual goal of reducing poverty by 1% annually

over the next 10 years)!

Important to again note: Data in Memphis shows that ONLY 5-

10% families living and growing up in dire poverty escape the grips of

poverty.

IMPACTS

Employment: 28% of those served by Agape’s workforce initiative now

earn a living wage (exceeding the goal of 20%).

Housing: 100% of families served reported having high confidence of

safety, with 76% reported housing stability. (exceeding the safety goal of 50%

and housing stability goal of 30%).

Education: 88% of students attended school at expected levels (exceeding

the goal of 65%); 20% of students had office referrals and suspensions

(exceeding the goal of 40% or less). 88% of students had parents who were

engaged in their child’s education (exceeding the goal of 65% or less).

Transportation: 75% of pilot families have benefited from MATA

collaboration.

Usage:

32% of Individual for GED/Post Secondary and Employment Pathways

15% of Families for Quality of Life Matters

CHALLENGES FORWARD

• Federal and state policy momentum to move 2Gen efforts to full

implementation

– Increase access to and settings for children and ensure greater

access to quality of early childhood ss to job training and

education for parents.

– Increase efforts to support economic security outcomes for

families.

– Mitigate, or eliminate the negative impact of “the benefits

cliff” effect to reinforce and sustain the effectiveness of 2Gen

poverty reduction initiatives.

CHALLENGES FORWARD

• Cross-system collaboration and partnership among social services

agencies and institutions of higher education, especially community

colleges, to increase bundled services and access to benefits for

low-income students, many of whom are parents.

• Postsecondary education access and completion through

strategies and funding more accurately reflecting the needs of

enrolled student parents (support services).

• Work-based learning opportunities for parents

• Advocating for social justice, inequities and disparities for

vulnerable populations

• Sustainability