Study Details | Pathways to Work

37958.01-Study of Empowering

Study quality: Low

Low

Reason for the rating: This study received a low study quality rating because it is a high-attrition randomized controlled trial that does not adjust estimated impacts for potentially important differences between the intervention and comparison groups.

Intervention: Empowering Families

Population and employment barriers:

Employment status (Employed), Parenting (Parents)

Services provided:

Case management, Financial education, Job placement, Job readiness, Job search assistance, Soft skills training

Setting: Urban only

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

Recruiters searched for interested couples through various organizations, including health clinics, schools, child care programs, shopping malls, local churches, food banks, workforce centers, and other community-based centers or events. Once they identified couples, the recruiters arranged an appointment for each couple to meet with an intake specialist at The Parenting Center. The intake specialist checked that the couple met the eligibility requirements, including being 18 or older, reporting they were in a committed relationship, were not currently experiencing domestic violence, and at least one member of the couple had a biological or adopted child who was younger than 18 and lived with that member of the couple at least half of the time. The specialist then called Mathematica's survey center to have the couple provide informed consent and participate in a baseline survey. The couple was then randomly assigned, with 482 couples assigned to the intervention group that received the Empowering Families intervention and 397 couples assigned to the comparison group. The unit of assignment was at the couple level, and the unit of analysis was at the individual level.

Time period of study:

The intervention was studied for about three years, from the time of study enrollment starting in September 2016 and lasting until the final follow-up survey conducted in December 2019.

Pathways only reports results from studies with a study quality rating of high or moderate.

Sample characteristics

Age

Mean age

36 years

Sex

Male

100%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	27%
White, not Hispanic	12%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	55%
Unknown, not reported, or other	6%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

Family status

Married	55%
Parents	82%

Participant employment and public benefit status

Were employed	87%
Were unemployed	13%
Had low incomes	100%

Participant education

Had a high school diploma or GED	52%
Did not have a high school diploma or GED	48%

Specific employment barriers

Were immigrants

39%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

The Parenting Center, a community-based nonprofit organization that delivers social services, implemented the Empowering Families program.

Intervention services:

The Empowering Families program provided a range of services to parenting couples with low incomes in the Fort Worth, TX area. The program offered couples eight workshops that combined the Family Wellness curriculum on healthy marriage and relationship education with job assistance and financial literacy services. Couples received case management to help them navigate the program and access community support services. Career counselors provided job readiness services, such as resume and interview training, and job placement assistance. Financial coaches also provided couples with support identifying financial goals and creating a plan to reach these goals.

Mandatory services:

None

Comparison services:

Comparison group participants were not offered the Empowering Families program, but they were free to seek other services available to them in the community.

Study publications

D'Angelo, Angela Valdovinos, and Katie Bodenlos (2020). Empowering Families: Implementation of an integrated HMRE, employment, and financial literacy program for low-income couples, OPRE Report #2020-61, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/empowering-families-implementation-integrated-hmre-employment-and-financial-literacy.

Wu, April Yanyuan, Quinn Moore, and Robert G. Wood (2021). Healthy marriage and relationship education with integrated economic stability services: The impacts of Empowering Families, OPRE Report #2021-224, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/streams-empowering-families-report.pdf.

View the glossary for more information about these and other terms used on this page.

The Pathways Clearinghouse refers to interventions by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some intervention names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.

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Study of Empowering Families—Men