All in Dads! Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Program Evaluation

All in Dads! Program Evaluation

The purpose of this study is to help fathers establish and strengthen their relationship with their children and the mothers of their children; to reduce domestic violence in vulnerable families; to improve economic stability of fathers through comprehensive, job-driven career services; to employ intensive case management barrier removal, individual job coaching, and comprehensive family development to improve short and long-term outcomes.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Fathers
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Primary Services

Detailed Description

After being informed about the study and giving consent, participants will enroll in a five-week All in Dads! program that collects data at enrollment, at the end of the program, and 12 months following the program. Research questions in this study are framed by a Descriptive Evaluation Design to assess whether outcomes improve for low-income fathers who participate in the All in Dads! (AID!) Project. Primary and secondary outcomes are assessed before and after participants complete core curricula-Father Factor, The New Playbook, and Money Smart-and Job Readiness Coaching and Career Development as employment support services (pre to post). Primary outcome measures will indicate whether behavior improved for healthy family relationships (parent, co-parent, and partner) and economic stability (financial, employment). Secondary outcome measures will indicate whether behavior improved for the attitudes and expectations that facilitate and reflect behavior for healthy family relationships and economic stability.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 731
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Ohio
    • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43215
      • Action for Children

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult (age 18 and older)
• Father/father figure
• Reside in Franklin County, Ohio

Exclusion Criteria:

• Minor (under the age of 18)
• Not a father/father figure
• Reside outside of Franklin County, Ohio

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Primary Services; Participants receive 16 hours of Father Factor curricula, 4 hours of The New Playbook curricula, 4 hours of Money Smart curricula over the course of five weeks. Participants also receive on-going job readiness support and post-employment support.	Other: Primary Services; Participants receive 16 hours of Father Factor curricula, 4 hours of The New Playbook curricula, 4 hours of Money Smart curricula over the course of five weeks. Participants also receive on-going job readiness support and post-employment support.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Healthy Parenting Behavior Measurement #1	1A) Will participants report significantly healthier parenting behavior after completing primary educational services and employment support services? 7 items engage w/child measured on the Healthy Parenting Behavior Scale #1. The scale was 1-5 and as follows: 1=Never, 2=1 to 2 days per month, 3=3 or 4 days per month, 4=2 or 3 days per week, 5=Every day or almost every day 1 item- frequency reach out to children (categories, 4-point scale); Measured on the Healthy Parenting Behavior Scale #2 1=Every day or almost every day, 2=One to three times a week, 3=One to three times in the past month, 4=Never in the past month The 8 items are measured as a construct. All items are added together and divided by 8 to create the construct score. The higher the score, the better the outcome. maximum score of 4.5, minimum score of 1.0	Change in mean from baseline in behavior in parenting behavior (interaction with children) to mean at 12 months from enrollment.
Healthy Co-parenting Behavior Measurement #1	2) Will participants report significantly healthier co-parenting behavior after completing primary educational services and employment support services? Co-parenting behavior: 11 items: frequency of agreement with key co-parenting behaviors (interval, 5-point scale) Measured on the Healthy Co-Parenting Behavior Scale #1 as: Strongly Disagree; Disagree; Neutral; Agree; Strongly Agree Individually, for five items, the higher the score the better. Six items are reverse scored, the lower the rating, the better the score. The construct is created by adding all scores together and dividing by 11. The higher the score on a scale of 1-5, the better the outcome. The lower the score, the worse the outcome.	Change from baseline in co-parenting behavior at 12 months from enrollment.
Healthy Financial Behavior Measurement #1	3) Will participants report significantly healthier financial behavior after completing primary educational services and employment support services? Father financial behavior: 2 items: yes or no questions for have resume, checking/savings accounts (dichotomous) Numbers reported in the results are counts of yes (participant has a checking account and participant has a savings account).	Change from baseline in father financial behavior at 12 months from enrollment.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Healthy Parenting Attitudes Measurement #1	4) Will participants report significantly healthier parenting attitudes after completing primary educational services and employment support services? Parenting attitudes (toward children) 7 items: frequency of key attitudes (categories, 5-point scale) Measured on the Healthy Parenting Attitudes Scale #1 as: Always; Often; Sometimes; Rarely; Never A construct is created by adding the score of the 7 items together and dividing by 7. Maximum score=5 (7*5/7), minimum score=1.0 (1*7/7)	Change in parenting attitudes (towards children) from enrollment to completion of the program (post-survey).

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Midwest Evaluation & Research
• Collaborators: Action for Children
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Matt D Shepherd, PhD, Midwest Evaluation & Research

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 18, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 22, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 3, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): January 18, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 15, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 11, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2002/03/30

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: All participant data will be confidential and aggregated. No individual participant data will be released unless requested by the courts. The study looks at data as a whole.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No