We study the original CareerAdvance model which pairs high quality Head Start for children with workforce training in the healthcare sector for parents. Additional program elements include academic and career coaching, peer cohorts, tuition/financial assistance, and wraparound child care. This study examines the short- and longer-term associations between family CareerAdvance participation and parent, child, and family outcomes.
Study Design
Quasi-experimental, mixed-methods, longitudinal
Sample Size
338 parents and their young children
Data Collection Time Frame
September 2011 – Present
Recent Short-Term Findings
- Parent Outcomes (One year)
- CareerAdvance promotes parent certificate attainment, employment in the healthcare sector, and overall wellbeing, including improvements in optimism, self-efficacy, and attachment to careers, compared to the matched comparison group.
- CareerAdvance parents did not report higher levels of perceived stress or psychological distress compared to matched comparison parents.
- As expected, CareerAdvance families did not improve their hourly earnings in one year, yet they also did not report higher levels of material hardship. This may be the result of program financial incentives which offset potential income loss.
- CareerAdvance promotes parent certificate attainment, employment in the healthcare sector, and overall wellbeing, including improvements in optimism, self-efficacy, and attachment to careers, compared to the matched comparison group.
- Child Outcomes (One and two years)
- For all families, CareerAdvance and matched comparison, children maintained, and in some cases exceeded, the benefits of CAP Tulsa’s Head Start, even while some parents participated in an intensive career training program.
- Children of families enrolled in CareerAdvance did not experience benefits above and beyond CAP Tulsa’s proven, high quality Head Start services.
- Two specific groups of CareerAdvance children experienced improved outcomes compared to the matched compared group: children whose parents were more college ready and children who were less school ready.
- For all families, CareerAdvance and matched comparison, children maintained, and in some cases exceeded, the benefits of CAP Tulsa’s Head Start, even while some parents participated in an intensive career training program.
- Child Attendance & Chronic Absence (One semester)
- CareerAdvance improves children’s attendance to Head Start and substantially reduces their chronic absence (i.e., missing more than 10% of school days)
- On average, children of families enrolled in CareerAdvance attended 6 more days of school in one semester compared to matched comparison children.
- CareerAdvance children were chronically absent at almost half the rate of children in the matched comparison group (32% compared to 63%, respectively)
- CareerAdvance improves children’s attendance to Head Start and substantially reduces their chronic absence (i.e., missing more than 10% of school days)
Publications
- Chor et al. (2023, journal article) Three-year outcomes for low-income parents of young children in a two-generation education program, journal of research on educational effectiveness
- Sommer et al. (2020, journal article) A two-generation education intervention and children’s attendance in Head Start
- Sommer et al. (2019, research brief) What are the effects of a two-generation human capital program on children’s attendance and chronic absence in Head Start?
- Chase-Lansdale et al. (2019, journal article) Effects of a two-generation human capital program on low-income parents’ education, employment, and psychological wellbeing
- Chase-Lansdale et al. (2019, research brief) What are the effects of a two-generation human capital program on low-income parents’ education, employment and psychological wellbeing?
- Sommer et al. (2018, journal article) A Two-Generation Human Capital Approach to Anti-Poverty Policy
- Sommer et al. (2017, journal article) Promoting parents’ social capital to increase children’s attendance in Head Start: Evidence from an experimental intervention
- Sommer, T.E., Sabol, T.J., Chase-Lansdale, P.L., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2016, chapter) Two-generation education programs for parents and children
- Sommer, T.E., Sabol, T.J., Chase-Lansdale, P.L., & King, C. (2019, chapter) Implementing career pathway training with a family focus: The two-generation approach of the Community Action Project of Tulsa, Oklahoma
- CAP Family Life Study Year 1 and 2 Findings (2019, short brief)
Research & Program Partners
CAP Tulsa | Tulsa WorkAdvance | Child and Adolescent Development Lab at Oklahoma State University at Tulsa
Primary Funding
Administration for Children and Families (ACF): Health Profession Opportunities Grant | ACF: Health Profession Opportunities Grant – University Partnership | W. K. Kellogg Foundation| Foundation for Child Development