Clinical trial NCT03143439: Evaluation of the Fathers Advancing Communities Together (FACT) Program
Official title: Evaluation of the Fathers Advancing Communities Together (FACT) Program
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Conditions: Responsible Fatherhood Programming
Lead sponsor: Urban Institute
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Rubicon Programs
First posted: 2017-05-08
Enrollment: 520
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 45
Standard ages: ADULT
Observational model: CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: The study population will include all FACT participants enrolled from July 2016 through September 2019. An individual is eligible to enroll in FACT if the individual is a parent with a child under 18, classified as having low income, lives in Contra Costa County, and is interested in services to enhance financial mobility. The participant survey will be administered to a sub-sample of approximately 200-250 FACT participants enrolled from March 2017 to March 2019. The sub-sample for the impact evaluation will be FACT participants with an active child support case.

Brief summary: 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.


Eligibility criteria: 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.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Increases in child support payment modifications
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Increases in monthly child support payment amounts
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Increases in employment
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Increases in receipt of public assistance
timeFrame: 6 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Court orders
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Amount of court orders
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Arrear
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Arrear balance
timeFrame: 6 monhts
measure: Months on public assistance
timeFrame: 6 months
Other outcomes:
measure: Improvement in fathers' attitudes and perceptions of economic self-sufficiency, relationships, and parenting as measured by participant-level surveys, program data, and administrative data.
timeFrame: One year (baseline and one-year follow up)
Locations:
city: Richmond
country: United States
facility: Rubicon Programs
state: California
Study officials:
affiliation: Urban Institute
name: Lindsey Cramer
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Urban Institute
name: Bryce Peterson, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: