Fathers' Support Center New Pathways to Responsible Fatherhood Family Formation Program (NPFF) Impact Evaluation Plan (NPFF)

Research Questions

The Brown School Evaluation Center at Washington University in St. Louis will conduct the local impact evaluation. The local evaluation seeks to answer four primary questions pertaining to the implementation and outcomes of the Family Formation Program (FFP) (an integrated approach of responsible parenting, economic stability and mobility, and healthy relationships):

Outcome Q1: Does the participation of fathers in the comprehensive Family Formation Program have greater effect on family functioning, father and child outcomes, and father economic stability and mobility compared to fathers receiving the 80 hour economic stability services only (i.e., job readiness and employment skills)?

Implementation Q2: How many families were reached by each of the conditions and was there variability in retention rates of fathers across conditions?

Implementation Q3: Did fathers in the treatment and comparison conditions find the intervention to be acceptable and appropriate?

Implementation Q4: What barriers and benefits exist to successful implementation of father focused family support programs?

Background Fatherhood programs originally had a narrow focus on financial stability and support, but have recently evolved to also emphasize healthy relationships, parenting skills, and father involvement. Despite significant state and federal funding for fatherhood programs, few have undergone rigorous evaluation to examine their effectiveness. This evaluation will determine the added benefit of content on parenting, father-child engagement, and father well-being over and above content on economic stability and mobility, in relation to family functioning, child well-being, and economic stability. This will also further build the evidence supporting one particular comprehensive intervention, FFP, as a means to improve outcomes for children and families through intervening with fathers.

Relation to program logic model The primary research question of this impact evaluation will examine the effect of the FFP on short- and long-term outcomes as described in the FFP logic model

Short-term outcomes assessed by the impact evaluation will include:

1. improved parenting and co-parenting skills;
2. increased father-child engagement;
3. increased financial responsibility of fathers; and
4. progress towards greater economic stability.

The impact evaluation will also examine the FFP long-term outcomes of improved family functioning (through changes in father and child well-being; co-parenting relationship quality, and the father-child relationship) and increased economic stability and mobility.

Hypothesis:

Investigators believe that the FFP will have a greater effect on family functioning, father and child outcomes, and father economic stability compared to fathers in the comparison group because members of the treatment group will be receiving a more comprehensive range of services. Investigators anticipate that fathers will equally participate in both programs because both will provide meaningful information and opportunities to build their skill sets.