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Subgroups
The study used random assignment across three sites. Staff at the sites recruited participants through community outreach and community partnerships, such as partnerships with probation and patrol officers. Organizations did not actively recruit from other community-based organizations that offered similar cognitive behavioral interventions. Eligible fathers completed intake, informed consent, and preliminary surveys on demographics and skills. Staff randomly assigned 752 fathers to the CBI-Emp group (375) or a comparison group (377). Ten fathers who were eligible but did not consent to participate in the study received services if they were randomly assigned to the intervention group, but they were not included in the study sample. To be eligible, fathers had to be involved with the justice system in the prior three years, be 18 or older, have a child younger than 25, and be moderately to highly likely to experience future involvement in the justice system, as measured by an intake assessment. Justice involvement could include being convicted of a crime, being incarcerated, or being on probation or parole.
The study randomly assigned people from October 2016 to December 2018, and examined information on outcomes for up to 12 months following random assignment.
ACF, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
All participants were fathers with recent justice involvement. More than half (55 percent) were currently on parole, probation, or community supervision, and 48 percent had been released from incarceration in the previous six months. Most (71 percent) were Black or African American, not Hispanic. About one-quarter of participants (27 percent) were working at the time of random assignment, and 37 percent had participated in cognitive behavioral services before.
Three community-based organizations provided the intervention: Passages, Inc. in Cleveland, OH; the Fortune Society in New York, NY; and Kanawha Institute for Social Research and Action, Inc. in Dunbar, WV.
CBI-Emp was first pilot tested from October 2015 to March 2016. This study aimed to determine whether the program could be integrated into current fatherhood program services and, if so, whether it would affect employment and earnings.
CBI-Emp provided fathers who had prior justice involvement with two weeks of workshops covering five modules: motivational engagement, cognitive restructuring, emotional regulation and social skills, problem-solving, and success planning. The workshops were intended to teach cognitive behavioral skills that could help participants become job ready and maintain employment. The study offered 20 of 31 workshop sessions developed by the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute. The study intended for participants to attend a minimum of 12 of 14 skill-based sessions, and up to 6 application sessions in which participants could build individual plans for success at work. Three organizations delivered the program at separate sites in Ohio, New York, and West Virginia. Participants received financial incentives from $25 to $75 for completing a certain number of sessions; the amounts and numbers of sessions needed to receive incentives varied across the organizations. In the weeks before CBI-Emp workshops, the organizations offered the same initial services to the participants and to the comparison group. Across the organizations, the duration of these initial services varied from three to eight weeks. The service models varied, but all included optional work readiness activities, such as workshops focused on interviewing skills and resume writing, case management, job development, and parenting and healthy relationship workshops.
The comparison group received fatherhood and traditional job readiness services as usual at one of the three participating organizations. Across the organizations, the duration of these services varied from three to eight weeks. The service models varied, but all included optional work readiness activities such as workshops focused on interviewing skills and resume writing, case management, job development, and parenting and healthy relationship workshops. The fathers were not eligible to attend CBI-Emp workshops.
None
The CBI-Emp workshops lasted two weeks.
The programs were funded by different sources, including Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood grants.
The study took place in the three locations of the participating organizations: Cleveland, OH; New York, NY; and Dunbar, WV.
Criminal justice, relationships with co-parents, cognitive function, economic well-being, child support, and transportation