Building Stronger Families by Working Together
When families face challenges like housing instability, food insecurity, or job loss, the effects ripple to affect everyone in the household, including children, caregivers, and even grandparents. That’s why Community Action Agencies (CAAs) in Utah use a Whole-Family, also known as a Two-Generation (2Gen) or Multi-Generational approach: a strategy that supports entire families together, not just individuals.
This method has become central to how CAAs operate in Utah. By recognizing the interconnected nature of family life, agencies help people build long-term stability, not just address immediate needs. It’s not about offering more services, but about coordinating the right services in the right way to create meaningful, lasting change.
What Is the Whole-Family / Two-Generation Approach?
The Whole-Family approach is built on a simple but powerful idea: the well-being of adults and children is intertwined. When caregivers have access to job training or safe housing, their children benefit. When children succeed in school, the entire family moves forward. This method intentionally brings services together to address the needs of all generations at once.
Community Action Agencies are especially well-suited to this approach thanks to flexible federal funding like the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG). While CSBG is not a standalone program, it allows CAAs to integrate housing support, early childhood education, employment assistance, mental health referrals, and financial coaching, offering personalized pathways to stability for whole families.
Programs like Head Start are strong examples of this model in action, supporting children’s early learning while also engaging parents and caregivers in education, job readiness, and wellness.
Why This Approach Matters in the Fight Against Poverty
Families experiencing poverty rarely face just one challenge at a time. They often navigate complex, overlapping barriers like limited access to childcare, lack of transportation, food insecurity, unstable housing, and low-wage jobs. Traditional services that focus on individuals can unintentionally overlook the broader dynamics at play.
The Whole-Family approach flips that model. It places the entire family at the center of a network of support, understanding that change in one generation can influence the next.
For example, in Utah County a Program Manager at a local agency shared how his participation in the Circles program—learning to budget, set financial goals, and plan for the future—not only helped him but also created a ripple effect within his family. His children began mirroring these habits, illustrating how whole-family strategies can break cycles of poverty.
How Utah CAAs Put It Into Practice
Across the state, Utah’s CAAs are implementing this approach in tangible, community-specific ways:
- Wrap-Around Services: Families don’t have to figure it all out alone. They’re supported by a team that might include case managers, teachers, navigators, or community partners who collaborate to meet needs across domains like housing, employment, childcare, and health.
- Flexible Entry Points: Families may first connect through a program like HEAT (LIHEAP) or Diaper Distribution, but those initial services open the door to broader support like financial coaching, job training, or family mentoring. This “no wrong door” philosophy ensures every connection counts.
- Inclusive Family Definitions: CAAs recognize that families come in many forms. Whether a household includes a single parent, a grandparent raising children, or multiple generations under one roof, Utah agencies let families define themselves, ensuring services meet their specific needs.
- Support for Older Generations: Area Agencies on Aging, often partners in this work, play a key role in helping seniors—many of whom serve as custodial caregivers—access the support they need. By helping grandparents, CAAs also support the children in their care.
Why This Approach Aligns with the Mission of Community Action
The Promise of Community Action is to help people help themselves and each other. The Whole-Family approach brings that promise to life by meeting people where they are, listening to their goals, and building customized pathways toward stability and opportunity.
Thanks to the flexibility of CSBG funding, Utah’s CAAs can adjust services based on local needs, all while maintaining a commitment to results-based accountability (ROMA) and goal setting. Just as important, this approach centers on respect, dignity, and the belief that every person and every family has the capacity for growth.
Stronger Families, Stronger Communities
Families don’t succeed in isolation and they shouldn’t have to. When we invest in the well-being of caregivers and children together, we build stronger households, more resilient communities, and better futures for everyone.
Want to see this approach in action? Reach out to your local Community Action Agency to learn more about how they’re helping families thrive across generations.
