Enhanced Early Head Start with Employment Services: 42-Month Impacts from the Kansas and Missouri Sites of the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project. OPRE Report 2012-05
Author: Hsueh, JoAnn
Date: 2012-02-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Program Effectiveness,Employment Services,Infants,Child Development,Disadvantaged Youth,Welfare Recipients,Educational Needs,Demonstration Programs,Employed Parents,Unemployment,At Risk Persons,At Risk Students,Program Evaluation,Employment Opportunities,Young Children,Parenting Styles,Child Rearing,Well Being,Socioeconomic Status,Family Income,Family Programs,Early Intervention

MDRC is conducting the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project under a contract with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As part of the multisite Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project, MDRC, together with its research partners, is leading an evaluation of parental employment and educational services delivered within Early Head Start (Enhanced EHS). The program model tested here aims to dually address the employment and educational needs of parents who are at risk of unemployment and the developmental needs of their children. The study is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with additional funding from the U.S. Department of Labor. The study uses a rigorous random assignment design comparing outcomes for families and children who were offered Enhanced EHS with outcomes for those who could only access alternative services in the community. This report presents the final impact results approximately 42 months after families and children first entered the study. Key findings include: (1) Because of implementation challenges, the Enhanced EHS program's formalized employment, educational, and self-sufficiency enhancements were never fully integrated into core EHS services; (2) At the 42-month follow-up, Enhanced EHS did not significantly affect parental employment and economic outcomes, parenting practices, or child development and well-being among the full research sample; and (3) Enhanced EHS generated positive impacts on parental employment and economic outcomes for families who were expecting a child or who had an infant (a child younger than 12 months old) when they first entered the study. The results illustrate the challenges of integrating enhancements aimed at addressing parents' education, employment, and self-sufficiency needs into a two-generational program that is focused primarily on goals related to parenting, family interactions, and child development. In the context of these implementation difficulties, Enhanced EHS had limited long-term impacts for the full sample. Yet Enhanced EHS had positive long-term impacts on parental employment and earnings for families who had an infant or who were expecting a child at the outset of the study. This suggests that the approach may be effective for some families. Appended are: (1) Response Bias Analysis: 42-Month Survey of Parents and Direct Child Assessments; (2) Impacts on Child Care; and (3) Impacts on Employment. Individual chapters contain tables, boxes and footnotes.