Evaluation of the Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Reentering Fathers and their Partners

Prepared for:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
and
Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

This project is available on the Internet at:
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/08/MFS-IP/index.shtml

The Evaluation of the Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Reentering Fathers and their Partners (MFS-IP) is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) initiative to support healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood. Thirteen grantees in 12 different states have received five-year grants from the Office of Family Assistance of ACF to implement multiple activities to support and sustain marriages and families of fathers during and after incarceration. Grantees may also provide support for reentering the family and community from prison, parenting support including visitation during incarceration, education and employment services during and after incarceration.

While incarceration takes a huge toll on families and children, research suggests that supportive families and positive marital/partner relationships are important for promoting positive adaptation for children of the incarcerated and for preventing subsequent criminal involvement among reintegrating prisoners. To evaluate the overall effectiveness of the 13 MFS-IP grantees, the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), awarded a contract to RTI to conduct an implementation evaluation as well as a multi-site, longitudinal, impact evaluation of selected grantees.

The specific objectives of the MFS-IP evaluation are:

• to describe the 13 programs on a number of dimensions including program history and context, type of grantee organization, target population, intervention strategies, and program design;
• to describe program implementation, challenges, successes, and lessons learned;
• to determine the impact of these diverse programs on outcomes such as marital stability, positive family interactions, family financial well-being, and recidivism; and
• to identify the mediation mechanisms (or primary pathways) through which these programs achieve success.

The implementation and impact evaluations will take place over a seven-year period, and will include on-site data collection regarding program implementation and a longitudinal survey data collection effort to study the effect of program participation in comparison with comparable individuals not participating in the MFS-IP programs. This evaluation will add to research, policy, and practice by helping to determine what types of programs work best for those involved in the criminal justice system, what does not work, and what effects these programs may have on fostering healthy marriages, families, and children.

Available Publications

• The National Evaluation of the Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage, and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Re-Entering Fathers and Their Partners, Program Overview and Evaluation Summary, Research Brief #2. Program Models of MFS-IP Grantees
  This research brief describes the context in which Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Re-entering Fathers and their Partners (MFS-IP) are operating, the populations served by the programs, and the program models in use among the grantees. December 2008.
• The National Evaluation of the Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage, and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Re-Entering Fathers and Their Partners, Program Overview and Evaluation Summary, Research Brief #1. Program Overview and Evaluation Summary
  This research brief describes the Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage, and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated and Re-Entering Partners. It also provides an overview of the implementation and impact evaluation for these grants. March 2008.
• Incarceration and the Family:  A Review of Research and Promising Approaches for Serving Fathers and Families.
  The resource document provides an overview of the extant literature on the effect of incarceration on the incarcerated individual, his partner, children and the family unit as a whole. It examines existing programs and lays out promising practice approaches. September 2008.

How to Obtain a Printed Copy

To obtain a printed copy of any report from this project, send the title and your mailing information to:

If you are interested in this, or any other ASPE product, please contact the Policy Information Center at (202) 690-6445. Or you may email us at pic@hhs.gov.

Where to?

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Home Pages:
Human Services Policy (HSP)
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Last updated: 02/03/09