Sponsoring Agency: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Project Officer: Jennifer C. Burnszynski, Social Science Analyst
Performance Period: October 2001 – September 2006
Project Summary:
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contracted with The Urban Institute – and its subcontractors, The Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Policy Studies and Capital Research Corporation to conduct a process/implementation study of the Partners for Fragile Families (PFF) demonstration. PFF sites were designed to test new approaches for state-run child support enforcement programs and community-based organizations (CBOs) to work together to help young fathers obtain employment, make child support payments, and learn parenting skills. The set of projects funded under PFF are intended to be on the cutting edge of reaching out and serving a population of young fathers who have not been the focus of previous initiatives – never-married, noncustodial parents (NCPs) who do not have a child support order in place and likely face serious barriers to employment. This project focused on conducting an in-depth evaluation of the PFF demonstration projects. The overall goal of this evaluation was to determine if changes in the ways in which public agencies and community organizations work with unmarried parents increase the likelihood of positive outcomes for children and parents. This research effort, though not an impact study, was intended to describe participant behavior and outcomes, and to assess potential relationships between PFF program features and participant outcomes and system changes. Data collection involved a round of site visits to each PFF project and analysis of administrative data (including Unemployment Insurance and child support enforcement data). Reports: K. Martinson, D. Nightingale, P. Holcomb, B. Barnow, and J. Trutko, Partners for Fragile Families Demonstration Projects: Employment and Child Support Outcomes and Trends, The Urban Institute, prepared for Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004 (available at http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411567_pff_outcomes.pdf). K. Martinson, J. Trutko, D. Nightingale, P. Holcomb, B. Barnow, The Implementation of the Partners for Fragile Families Demonstration Projects, The Urban Institute, prepared for Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004 (available at: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411511_fragile_familes.pdf). John Trutko and Burt Barnow, Evaluation Design and Workplan for the Process/Implementation Evaluation of the Partners for Fragile Families Demonstration, prepared by The Urban Institute, prepared for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and Office of Child Support Enforcement, Department of Health and Human Services, 2002.