IVROP ReadyforLIFE Program Evaluation

Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program (IVROP) ReadyforLIFE Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Program Evaluation

The purpose of the Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program (IVROP) ReadyforLIFE program evaluation is to determine whether primary (i.e., behaviors) and secondary (i.e., attitudes) outcomes improve for youth participants after completing the ReadyforLIFE program. Understanding the ways in which the IVROP ReadyforLIFE program supports healthy partner relationships and economic stability is important for those providing services to at-risk youth populations.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Youth
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Primary Services

Detailed Description

After being informed about the study and giving consent, participants will enroll in a program that collects data at enrollment, at the end of the program, and 12 months following program enrollment. The length of the program ranges from four weeks up to one year, depending on the setting and the number of optional workshops students opt to receive. Research questions in this study are framed by a descriptive evaluation design to assess whether outcomes improve for at-risk youth who participate in the IVROP ReadyforLIFE program. Primary and secondary outcomes are assessed before and one year after participants complete core curricula - Relationships Smart Plus, Mind Matters, and Money Habitudes (pre to follow-up). Primary outcome measures will indicate whether behavior improved for healthy partner relationships and financial stability. Secondary outcome measures will indicate whether improvements were made in the attitudes and expectations that facilitate and reflect behavior for healthy partner relationships and financial stability.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1680
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • El Centro, California, United States, 92243
      • Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program Community Foundation (IVROPCF)

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 12 years to 16 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• At-risk youth (foster/justice involved, immigrant household, undocumented, LGBTQ)
• High school age
• Residing in the Imperial Valley, CA

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals who are 18 and above and out of high school
• Individuals who reside outside of Imperial Valley, CA

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; Primary services: Participants receive 12 hours of Relationships Smarts Plus, 3 hours of Mind Matters and 1 hour of Money Habitudes workshops over the course of 6 weeks. Participants also receive life coaching and on-going job readiness support.	Other: Primary Services; Primary services: Participants receive 12 hours of Relationships Smarts Plus, 3 hours of Mind Matters and 1 hour of Money Habitudes workshops over the course of 6 weeks. Participants also receive life coaching and ongoing job readiness support.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Healthy Partner Relationship Behavior Measurement #1	Will participants report significantly healthier relationship behaviors one year after enrolling into the IVROP ReadyforLIFE program? Items measured include: 5 items: levels of reported skill with key relationship behaviors (categories, 4-point scale); measured on the Healthy Relationship Behavior Scale #1 as: 1 = I am extremely good at this 2 = I am good at this 3 = I am bad at this 4 = I am extremely bad at this Lower scores indicate a higher perceived skill in healthy relationship behaviors, so the lower the rating, the better the score.	Change from baseline in behavior in relationship behavior (interaction with romantic partner at 12 months from enrollment
Healthy Partner Relationship Behavior Measurement #2	1B) Will participants report significantly healthier relationship behaviors one year after enrolling into the IVROP ReadyforLIFE program? Items measured include: 6 items: frequency of engaging in key relationship behaviors (categories, 5-point scale); measured on the Healthy Relationship Behavior Scale #2 as: 1 = None of the time 2 = Some of the time 3 = Half of the time 4 = Most of the time 5 = All of the time Higher scores indicate a higher perceived frequency of engaging in unhealthy relationship behaviors, so the higher the rating, the worse the score. Reverse scoring will have the higher score always equal to showing improvement.	change from baseline in behavior to 12-months after program completion
Money Management Scale (Financial Behavior Measurement #1)	Will participants report significantly healthier financial behavior one year after enrolling into the IVROP ReadyforLIFE program? Items measured include: 4 items: frequency of engaging in healthy money management behaviors (categories, 5-point scale); measured on the Money Management Scale #1 as: 1 = Never 2 = Rarely 3 = Sometimes 4 = Often 5 = Always Higher scores indicate a greater frequency of engaging in healthy money management behaviors, so the higher the rating, the better the score.	change from baseline in behavior to 12-months after program completion

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Healthy Partner Relationship Attitudes Measurement #1	Will participants report significantly healthier partner relationship attitudes one year after enrolling into the IVROP ReadyforLIFE program? Items measured include: 9 items: levels of agreement with relationship beliefs (categories, 4-point); measured on the Healthy Relationship Attitudes #1 Scale as: 1 = Strongly Agree 2 = Agree 3 = Disagree 4 = Strongly Disagree Higher scores indicate a higher disagreement with unhealthy relationship attitudes, so the higher the rating, the better the score.	change from baseline in behavior to 12-months after program completion
Healthy Partner Relationship Attitudes Measurement #2	Will participants report significantly healthier partner relationship attitudes one year after enrolling into the IVROP ReadyforLIFE program? Items measured include: 3 items: future-oriented self-reported beliefs in key relationship events likely to occur (categories, 5-point scale); measured on the Healthy Partner Relationship Attitudes Measurement #2 as: 1 = Almost no chance 2 = Some chance but probably not 3 = A 50-50 chance 4 = A good chance 5 = Almost certain Higher scores indicate a greater perceived likelihood of key relationship events to occur in the future. Two items will be reverse coded so that for all items, a higher rating will indicate a better score.	change from baseline in behavior to 12-months after program completion
Financial Attitudes Measurement #1	Do participants report significantly healthier financial attitudes one year after enrolling into the IVROP ReadyforLIFE program? Items measured include: 7 items: levels of agreement with key financial attitudes (categories, 5-point scale); measured on the Financial Attitudes Scale as: 1 = Strongly Disagree 2 = Disagree 3 = Neither Agree nor Disagree 4 = Agree 5 = Strongly Agree Higher scores indicate a higher positive attitude towards healthy financial management, so the higher the rating, the better the score.	change from baseline in behavior to 12-months after program completion

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Midwest Evaluation & Research
• Collaborators: Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program (IVROP)
• 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 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 15, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 8, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 8, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): February 17, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 5, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 3, 2024
• Last Verified: April 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: #2021/03/38

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. This 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