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BUILDING BRIDGES AND BONDS (B3)
• A rigorous, multi-site study of
innovative services offered by
Responsible Fatherhood/ReFORM
(RF) programs
• Unique opportunity for the
program and research
communities to produce new
evidence about specific service
approaches
• OFA and other stakeholders are
involved in helping B3 to set
OMB # 0970-0356
priorities
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

2

WHY B3?
• Fathers play a distinct role in
children’s lives
• However, they often face
barriers to positive economic
and emotional involvement
with their children
• Improving outcomes for lowincome fathers and children is a
high priority for policymakers
• A number of promising
approaches are emerging, but
there is a limited evidence base
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

3

STUDY GOALS
• Provide evidence about
strategies that

– Are feasible in RF program
context
– Improve outcomes
– Have the potential to change
practice

• Build knowledge in three areas
– Employment
– Parenting and co-parenting
– Participant recruitment and
engagement

OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

4

STUDY TEAM
• Sponsored by the
Administration for Children
and Families’ Office of
Planning, Research and
Evaluation within the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services
• Conducted by
– MDRC, in partnership with
– MEF Associates
– Abt SRBI
– Leading experts in the field
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

5

FEDERAL EVALUATIONS AND THE GRANT
APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCESS
• Approximately 6 RF and 6 HM sites will be
chosen for the federal evaluations
• The B3 and STREAMS selection process is
separate from the grant selection process
– Selection for the evaluation will take place after grants
are awarded
– The B3 and STREAMS teams have no role in grant
decisions
– No additional points will be awarded for including
mentioned approaches in funding proposals
– The study teams may not work with programs on
grant applications
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

6

A RESEARCH-PRACTICE PARTNERSHIP
• B3 is planning ongoing
communication with the entire
range of stakeholders
– January 2015 meeting: Heard
views from several current
grantees and fatherhood
researchers about potential
priorities for B3
– Newsletter and at RFHM grantee
conferences: Continue the
dialogue
– Ongoing: Will work closely with
sites throughout recruitment,
random assignment, and
implementation
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

7

COMPLEMENTARY STUDIES
• B3 is one of several studies
providing new evidence for RF field
• Others include

– Local evaluations from next cohort
of RF grantees
– Parents and Children Together
(PACT)
– Fatherhood Research and Practice
Network

• B3 complements these studies
with its focus on individual
program components and
implementation features
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

8

WHAT WE KNOW
• Fathers in PACT report that their
participation is motivated by
– Employment
– Better relationships with their
children

• RF programs are
– Important to local communities
– Strong partners to other
organizations
– A forum for men to discuss their
roles as fathers and support each
other’s efforts
– Like other federal programs,
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018
increasingly focused on evidence of

9

KEY QUESTIONS ADDRESSED IN B3
• What outcomes do the services
affect? (Impact analysis)
– Examine effects of program components,
including program approaches and
implementation factors
– Measure impacts using random
assignment

• How are impacts achieved?
(Implementation analysis)
– Give context to impact findings
– Describe how component was delivered,
staff/participant views of services, and
challenges and solutions
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

10

HIGH-PRIORITY EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES
• Challenge

– Help men find and maintain
better jobs with higher
earnings than they can find
on their own

• Promising approaches

– Active job development
– Services informed by
cognitive behavioral
principles
– Wage subsidies
– Industry-specific training
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

11

HIGH-PRIORITY PARENTING
SERVICES
• Challenges

– Build parenting skills of dads
even if not living with children
– Increase conflict management
skills and reduce co-parenting
conflict for both parents

• Promising approaches

– Parenting curricula involving
the child
– Co-parenting sessions
involving the mother
– Parenting curricula with some
evidence

OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

12

PROGRAM RECRUITMENT &
ENGAGEMENT
• Participant recruitment,
engagement, and retention are a
central issue for many programs
• B3 seeks to

– Work with programs to identify and
test new approaches in this area
– Apply learnings from “behavioral
economics”

• The study team will help sites

– Identify current challenges
– Test multiple strategies
– Assess and refine enhancements
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

13

RANDOM ASSIGNMENT
• The most rigorous and reliable method for
demonstrating program effects
• Program participants are randomly assigned to
one of two groups
– Group 1: Receives program services, including the
component intervention being tested
– Group 2: Receives program services, but not the
component intervention being tested

• The difference in the outcomes of the two groups
shows the intervention’s impact
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

14

RANDOM ASSIGNMENT
• Individuals are assigned to
the groups randomly
• The two groups will have
similar characteristics on
average, at enrollment
• We can be confident that
any differences in
outcomes are attributable
to the program
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

15

DESIRED STUDY SITE
CHARACTERISTICS
• Funded through OFA Responsible Fatherhood grants
and/or other sources
• Demonstrated experience running a fatherhood
program
• Operating a high-priority strategy or willing to
implement new program enhancements
• Capacity to recruit and serve approximately 500
fathers over 15-18 months
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

16

BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATION
• May provide additional funds to
support programming and study
participation, for example, to support
enhancements to services
• Expert technical assistance on
– Participant recruitment and
engagement
– Program service being tested
– Study procedures

• Specific results for your program
• Contribute to growing evidence base
• Increased visibility as part of a national
OMB # 0970-0356
study
17
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

B3 STUDY TEAM RESPONSIBILITIES
• Maintain close communication with organizations,
including visits, to learn about program operations,
hear your interests, and brainstorm study options
• Facilitate meetings to plan study implementation
• Provide funding and other resources to support
program enhancements and research activities
• Train and support program staff on study
procedures
• Provide ongoing technical assistance to achieve
high-quality program enhancement and research
procedures
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

• Analyze data, share lessons, and publish reports 18

STUDY TIMELINE

• 2015-2016: Site recruitment
• 2016-2017: Enroll participants into the
study
• 2016-2018: Sites receive study support
• 2017-2019: Share lessons with RF field
• 2017: Implementation reports
• 2018: Impact reports
• 2019: Final synthesis reports
OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

19

CONTACT INFORMATION
MDRC (research contractor)
www.mdrc.org/b3
[email protected]
OPRE (federal office)
Anna Solmeyer
[email protected]
202-401-4055
NOTE: The Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This collection of information is voluntary and will be used to gather preliminary information about the
fatherhood field and explore with fatherhood programs the research questions that are of interest and the design options that are feasible. Public
reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 108 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions,
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate
or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to Anna Solmeyer; [email protected]; Attn:
OMB-PRA (0970-0356).

OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

20

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

OMB # 0970-0356
Expiration Date: 03/31/2018

21

IMPACT ANALYSIS
• Sample research questions
– Does a focused co-parenting model help
fathers spend more and better time with
their children?
– Do enhanced employment services
increase work and earnings?
– Can behavioral interventions increase
participant engagement in program
services?

• Sample data sources
– Participant surveys
– Federal administrative data (new hires,
child support)
– Program management information
systems (MIS) data

IMPLEMENTATION ANALYSIS
• Sample research questions
– What are the characteristics of participating fathers?
– What services are offered and to what extent are
they used?
– How are services perceived by participants and staff
or partners in the community?

• Sample data sources
– Program management information systems (MIS)
data
– On-site interviews with program staff and
participants
– Participant surveys

STUDY IMPLEMENTATION
• Sample designs
– Site already implementing strategy to be studied
• Program recruits additional participants to a
second group that gets some services but not the
strategy being tested
– Site not yet implementing strategy to be studied
• Program provides half their participants with the
intervention services as an enhancement to their
existing program

• Study sites will be provided with resources to
expand recruitment and/or add enhancements

RANDOM ASSIGNMENT

Placeholder for suggested
chart/graph to explain
random assignment

Impact of enhanced
intervention
Earnings

Enhanced intervention

Month 8

Month 6

Month 4

Month 2

Enrollment

Standard intervention

RANDOM ASSIGNMENT

Placeholder for suggested
chart/graph to explain
random assignment

100
80 80

Percent employed

80
60

60
40
20
0

50

Program

40

Comparison
20

Method 1

Method 2

Method 3

Without a comparison, Method 3 might appear to be the most effective.

RANDOM ASSIGNMENT
PROCEDURES
Participants meet program criteria

Placeholder – to
be updated as
study team learns
more about
program flows

Participants give consent
Baseline data collected

Random
Assignment
Group 1
Program services
including
component
intervention being
tested

Group 2
Program services
excluding component
intervention being
tested

EXAMPLE: CO-PARENTING
INTERVENTION
Participants
enroll
Placeholder example –
example of interventions to
be updated as the study
design process progresses

Fatherhood
workshop covering
multiple topics

Parenting workshop
during group
sessions PLUS
intensive co-