Introduction
Research Questions
- What factors are associated with strong implementation of HMRF grants?
Since 2006, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded and overseen federal funding for four cohorts of healthy marriage (HM) and responsible fatherhood (RF) grant programs (2006-2011, 2011-2015, 2015-2020, and 2020-2025). The HM grantees promote HM and relationships through eight legislatively authorized activities, such as marriage and relationship education and development of skills for job and career advancement. RF grantees’ legislatively authorized activities promote responsible parenting, healthy marriage, and economic stability. OFA works with ACF’s Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) to conduct research on how to best serve families through these grants.
To learn more about factors that might help or hinder successful implementation of the 2015-2020 cohort of grants, ACF asked Mathematica to visit selected grantees to explore their experiences. This brief shares some of what was learned, with a focus on approaches to staffing programs and working with partners.
This work was part of the Fatherhood and Marriage Local Evaluation (FaMLE) Cross-Site Project, led by OPRE in collaboration with OFA. ACF partnered with Mathematica to conduct the FaMLE Cross-Site project.
Purpose
The purpose of this brief is to share with HMRF grantees and other interested stakeholders information they can consider for strengthening their own implementation.
Key Findings and Highlights
The brief provides information on staffing and partnering practices that the study linked with successful implementation of the 2015 grants. Many of these practices, or factors, were drawn from implementation science frameworks, and others emerged from comparisons across grantees. Examples include inviting direct services staff to team meetings, using data to support decisions by all levels of program staff, and maintaining strong connections to partner agencies, especially those that provide key supports such as referrals to the program.
Methods
In preparation for the site visits, the study (1) created a definition of “successful implementation,” which included achievements such as meeting enrollment goals, retaining enrollees, and delivering all planned services, and (2) reviewed implementation science literature and other sources to identify factors to examine. Then ACF approved site visits with 7 HM and 10 RF grantees. During site visits, the study team interviewed a total of 173 project leaders and staff, about the identified factors. Responses were compared across grantees. As such, the study provides qualitative evidence that some of the factors explored were related to grantee successes or challenges. The study was not able or intended to determine whether the factors were causally related to program performance and outcomes, though other types of studies might be able to do so.