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/
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;
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to describe program implementation, challenges, successes, and lessons learned;
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to determine the impact of these diverse programs on outcomes such as marital
stability, positive family interactions, family financial well-being, and
recidivism; and
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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 Reentering Fathers and their Parents, Research Brief
#6. Strategies for Building Healthy Relationship Skills
Among Couples Affected by Incarceration
This brief describes implementation findings from the evaluation of MFS-IP
and documents approaches to teaching relationship skills among incarcerated
and reentering fathers and their families. March 2012.
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The National Evaluation of the
Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage, and Family Strengthening Grants for
Incarcerated and Re-Entering Fathers and their Partners, Research
Brief #5. Parenting from Prison: Innovative Programs
to Support Incarcerated and Reentering Fathers
This brief describes implementation findings from the evaluation of the MFS-IP
and documents innovative parenting supports provided to incarcerated and
reentering fathers and their families. April 2010.
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The National Evaluation of the
Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage, and Family Strengthening Grants for
Incarcerated and Re-Entering Fathers and their Partners, Research
Brief #4. Bringing Partners into the Picture:
Family-Strenghtening Programming for Incarcerated Fathers
This brief describes the work of MFS-IP grantees in delivering programming
to the partners of incarcerated fathers. The brief documents services
offered to partners, challenges encountered in enrolling and serving partners,
and solutions grantees employed to meet these challenges. August 2009.
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The National Evaluation of the
Responsible Fatherhood, Marriage, and Family Strengthening Grants for
Incarcerated and Re-Entering Fathers and their Partners, Research
Brief #3. Strengthening the Couple and Family Relationships
of Fathers Behind Bars: The Promise and Perils of Corrections-Based
Programming
This brief describes the work of MFS-IP grantees in delivering programming
in correctional facilities. The brief documents challenges faced by
grantees, including logistical barriers, recruitment problems, and challenges
retaining incarcerated fathers in programming. August 2009.
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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 MFS-IP grantees are operating,
the populations served by the programs, and the program models in use among
the grantees. December 2008.
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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.
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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.
To obtain a printed copy of any report from this project, send the title
and your mailing information to:
Human Services Policy, Room 404E
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Av, SW
Washington, DC 20201
Fax: (202) 690-6562
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: 04/06/12