Evaluation of the Fathers Advancing Communities Together (FACT) Program

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The Urban Institute-a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization-is partnering with Rubicon Programs to conduct a rigorous evaluation of its Fathers Advancing Communities Together (FACT) program. FACT is a multi-faceted program designed to deliver responsible parenting, healthy relationships, and economic stability services on a voluntary basis to low-income fathers in Contra Costa County, California. Urban's evaluation comprised of three key components: The implementation evaluation will describe FACT program activities and services, including communication and coordination across partners, service delivery mechanisms, and whether and how participants and their families received comprehensive services. Urban will identify a logic model for the program and assess the barriers to and facilitators of program performance. The implementation evaluation will draw from interviews with program staff, partners, and stakeholders, as well as field observations, program and administrative data, and focus groups with FACT participants and their families. The outcome evaluation will build on the implementation evaluation to determine whether specific program components, their frequency, and their duration, are related to outcomes. Urban will conduct surveys of program participants at the time of their enrollment into the program and one year following their enrollment to explore how participants' self-reported attitudes on various domains are associated with economic self-sufficiency and family functioning. Urban will also use program and administrative data collected by Rubicon and its partners, specifically Rubicon's case management database, to assess participant outcomes. The impact evaluation will assess to what extent participation in the FACT program is associated with improved outcomes as compared to similarly situated individuals who did not participate in the program. Urban will work with Rubicon's partners to identify individuals living in Contra Costa County who were eligible to participate in the program but, for whatever reason, did not do so. Once a comparison group of fathers has been established, Urban will use individual-level outcome data to determine whether the FACT program has an impact on economic self-sufficiency and family functioning.

Official Title
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Evaluation of the Fathers Advancing Communities Together (FACT) Program

Conditions
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Responsible Fatherhood Programming

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Fathers Advancing Communities Together (FACT) program


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: An individual is eligible for the impact evaluation if the individual is a FACT participant and is a parent with an open child support case in Contra Costa County, CA during the time of their enrollment.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 45 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Program group<br>The program group will be comprised of all individuals who enrolled in the FACT program from July 2016 through September 2019 and have active child support cases with the Contra Costa County Department of Child Support Services. | Behavioral: Fathers Advancing Communities Together (FACT) program<br>* The FACT program offers fathers and their families responsible parenting, healthy relationship, and economic stability services and activities.<br>|
| Comparison group<br>The comparison group will be comprised of individuals with active child support cases with the Contra Costa County Department of Child Support Services who are demographically comparable to the treatment group (i.e., FACT fathers with active child support cases), yet did not participate in or receive FACT services. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Increases in child support payment modifications | The outcome is a dichotomous measure of whether the individual had any child support modifications between enrollment and 6-months post enrollment (1 = Yes; 0 = No). | 6 months | 
| Increases in monthly child support payment amounts | This outcome is a semi-continuous measure indicating the average dollar amount of monthly child support payments between enrollment and 6-months post enrollment in dollars | 6 months | 
| Increases in employment | This outcome is a dichotomous measure of whether the individual was employed at any point between enrollment and 6-months post enrollment (1 = Yes; 0 = No). | 6 months | 
| Increases in receipt of public assistance | This outcome is a dichotomous measure of whether an individual was on any public assistance (e.g., TANF and SNAP) at any point between enrollment and 6-months post enrollment (1 = Yes; 0 = No). | 6 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Court orders | The outcome is a dichotomous measure of whether there was a new child support court order during the 6-month period after enrollment (1 = Yes; 0 = No). | 6 months | 
| Amount of court orders | This outcome is a semi-continuous measure indicating the total dollar amounts of new court orders during the 6-month period after enrollment. | 6 months | 
| Arrear | This outcome is a dichotomous measure of whether there was a new arrear (an open case with unpaid child support owed to the custodial parent) at 6-months post enrollment. | 6 months | 
| Arrear balance | This outcome is a semi-continuous measure of the total balance of new arrears at 6-months post enrollment. | 6 monhts | 
| Months on public assistance | This outcome measure is a count of the number of months individuals were on any public assistance during the 6-month period after enrollment. | 6 months |