Goodwill of Central Texas: Fatherhood Works Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Program Evaluation

Goodwill of Central Texas: Fatherhood Works Program Evaluation

The key goal of this descriptive evaluation is to assess the extent to which participation in the Fatherhood Works Program is positively associated with improved attitudes and behaviors among fathers and father figures in Central Texas. Research questions will focus on whether attitudes and behaviors related to parenting, co-parenting, and employment change after participation in primary program services.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Fathers
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Intervention #1: Fatherhood Works Program Delivered to Participants

Detailed Description

This evaluation seeks to understand the positive and/or negative impacts of an evidence-based core curriculum, Nurturing Fathers (NF), in combination with other workshops and case management services. All participants will receive a range of support services tailored to individuals' needs related to financial planning, career counseling, job search assistance, and occupational skills training. The program facilitator will offer the NF curriculum in both virtual and in-person formats. The evaluation will seek to determine to what extent participation in a program that uses Nurturing Fathers curriculum, in combination with other workshop programming, is associated with changes in parenting and employment attitudes as well as parenting and co-parenting behaviors.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 395
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • Austin, Texas, United States, 78753
      • Goodwill of Central Texas

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Father figure
• Child up to 24 years of age
• Resides in Central Texas
• Adult (age 18 and older)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Minor (under the age of 18)
• Not a father/father figure
• Resides outside of Central Texas
• Child is older than 24 years of age

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: Fatherhood Works Program delivered in-person; Participants receive 26 hours of Nurturing Fathers curriculum, delivered in person. Participants also receive employment supports, case management, and financial literacy training.	Other: Intervention #1: Fatherhood Works Program Delivered to Participants; Participants receive 26 hours of Nurturing Fathers curriculum, delivered in person. Participants also receive employment supports, case management, and financial literacy training.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Parenting Behavior Measurement #1	1a) Will participants report significantly healthier parenting behavior after completing primary educational services and employment support services? Items measured include: 1 item: frequency reaching out to children (categories, 5-point scale) 7 items: frequency engaging in key behaviors (categories, 5-point scale) Measured on the Healthy Parenting Behavior Scale #1 as: 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 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 5.0, minimum score of 1.0	Change from baseline in parenting behavior (interaction with child) from enrollment to 12-month follow-up
Co-parenting Behavior Measurement #1	2) Will participants report significantly healthier co-parenting behavior after completing primary educational services and employment support services? Items measured include: 11 items: frequency of agreement with key co-parenting behaviors (interval, 5-point scale) Measured on the Healthy Co-parenting Behavior Scale #1 as: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3= Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree For 6 items, the lower the rating, the better the score. 5 items are reverse coded, with a higher rating indicating a better score. The 11 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 5.0, minimum score of 1.0.	Change from baseline in co-parenting behavior (interaction with co-parent) from enrollment to 12-month follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Healthy Parenting Attitudes Measurement #1	Will participants report significantly healthier parenting attitudes after completing primary educational services and employment support services? Items measured include: Parenting attitudes measured with: 7 items - frequency of key parenting attitudes toward children (categories, 5-point scale) Measured on the Healthy Parenting Attitude Scale #1 as: 1 = Always, 2 = Often, 3= Sometimes, 4 = Rarely, 5 = Never For 3 items, the lower the rating, the better the score. 4 items are reverse coded, with a higher rating indicating a better score. 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 5.0, minimum score of 1.0	Change from baseline in parenting attitudes (attitudes toward child) from enrollment to immediately after program completion (7 weeks).
Healthy Employment Attitudes Measurement #1	Items measured include: 5 items: level of agreement with attitudes related to job searching Measured on the Healthy Employment Attitude Scale as: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3= Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree The 5 items are measured as a construct. All items are added together and divided by 5 to create the construct score. The higher the score, the better the outcome. maximum score of 5.0, minimum score of 1.0.	Time frame: Change from baseline in co-parenting behavior (interaction with co-parent) from enrollment to 12-month follow-up.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Midwest Evaluation & Research
• Collaborators: Goodwill of Central Texas
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Matt D Shepherd, PhD, Midwest Evaluation and Research

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): August 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 14, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 14, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): March 23, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): October 1, 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: #2021/03/31

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