Clinical trial NCT02843113: Stepping Up 4 Your Child
Official title: Stepping Up 4 Your Child: The Impact of an Educational Program and Social Case Work Involvement on Single Fathers
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Parenting Education Curriculum
Parenting Education Curriculum + Case Management
Waiting List Control
Keywords: single father
parenting behavior
Lead sponsor: University of Louisville
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Kentucky Cabinet for Health & Family Services
First posted: 2016-07-25
Enrollment: 1266
Sex: MALE
Minimum age (years): 16
Maximum age (years): 105
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Through Stepping Up 4 Your Child, non-custodial fathers will be provided with a comprehensive, solution-oriented program featuring group based parent education and individualized case management to help them achieve financial independence, increase their parenting skills, and develop a co-parenting alliance.

Detailed description: Fathers' involvement in their children's lives has received increased attention in recent years. In response, support has grown for responsible fatherhood programs aimed at improving the quantity and quality of fathers' involvement. Research on these programs has concluded that factors such as fathers' parenting skills, co-parenting relationship quality, and socioeconomic status all impact fathers' ability to contribute to their children's growth and development. Using this previous research as a foundation, the Stepping Up 4 Your Child project will go beyond traditional fatherhood initiatives by integrating the provision of responsible parenting, economic stability, and relationship education services to fathers at risk for paternal disengagement. To do so, the University of Louisville's Kent School of Social Work will leverage its existing relationship with the Kentucky Office of Child Support Enforcement. Specifically, through Stepping Up 4 Your Child, non-custodial fathers will be provided with a comprehensive, solution-oriented program featuring group based parent education and individualized case management to help them achieve financial independence, increase their parenting skills, and develop a co-parenting alliance. Given that each of these focus areas have all been cited as three of the strongest predictors of paternal engagement, Stepping Up 4 Your Child and the results of its evaluation will have significant implications for the families it serves, as well as the practitioners, researchers, and policymakers interested in responsible fatherhood. 1

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* non-custodial father AND
* age 16-24 OR
* age 24 up + low income OR
* age 24 up + child support payment delinquent

Exclusion Criteria:

* female
* custodial father
* male but not a father
* younger than age 16

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Fathering Knowledge and Skills.
timeFrame: immediate after intervention, at 3 months later and at 6 months later
measure: Change in Fathers' Parenting Behavior.
timeFrame: immediate after intervention, at 3 months later and at 6 months later
measure: Change in Child Support Compliance.
timeFrame: immediate after intervention, at 3 months later and at 6 months later
measure: Change in Co-Parenting Relationship Quality.
timeFrame: immediate after intervention, at 3 months later and at 6 months later
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in Conflict Resolution Skills.
timeFrame: immediate after intervention, at 3 months later and at 6 months later
measure: Change in Communication Skills.
timeFrame: immediate after intervention, at 3 months later and at 6 months later
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Elizabethtown
country: United States
state: Kentucky
city: Louisville
country: United States
facility: University of Louisville
state: Kentucky
city: Owensboro
country: United States
state: Kentucky
city: Owenton
country: United States
state: Kentucky
city: Paducah
country: United States
state: Kentucky
city: Sandy Hook
country: United States
state: Kentucky
Study officials:
References: