Planning and Implementation of the Rural IMPACT Demonstration

This report summarizes findings from an ASPE study of the first year of the White House Rural Council/HHS Rural IMPACT demonstration, which aims to reduce poverty through coordinated services for both children and parents. ASPE did a summary scan of all 10 demonstration sites and more in-depth study of six of those sites (including visits to two).  Key findings include: greater tailoring of technical assistance to individual site circumstances may increase its effectiveness; additional site resources could better support Rural IMPACT; a range of partners must be involved, particularly families themselves; leadership is critical; the federal role in Rural IMPACT facilitated planning and implementation, with limitations; and sites are eager to encourage two-generation efforts more widely.