Study Details | Pathways to Work

3356-Study of Noncustodia

Study quality: Low

Low

Reason for the rating: This study received a low study quality rating because it is a quasi-experimental design that does not demonstrate that the intervention and comparison groups were sufficiently similar before the intervention.

Intervention: Noncustodial Parent (NCP) Choices

Population and employment barriers:

Parenting (Noncustodial parents, Parents), Public Benefits Recipients (Public benefits recipients)

Services provided:

Case management, Childcare and/or early education, Job placement, Job readiness, Job search assistance, Post-employment participant follow-up, Transportation assistance, Tuition assistance/financial aid, Unpaid work experience/internships, Work supports

Setting: Tested in multiple settings

Study design

Design:

Quasi-experimental design

Study group formation:

To form the intervention group, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) identified 494 noncompliant noncustodial parents (from among the OAG’s caseload) in participating counties whose children were receiving or had received public assistance. The OAG presented the eligible noncustodial parents with three choices: to pay child support, to participate in the Choices program, or to go to jail. In four Texas sites, people who were still noncompliant at the time of the 30-day compliance report had a second chance to enroll in the Choices program (rather than face jail). A matched comparison group (494 people) was identified from among the state's database of noncustodial parents by using a nearest-neighbor matching process. Each individual in the intervention group was matched to a nontreatment noncustodial parent who was as similar as possible based on several characteristics, including county of residence, age, sex, marital status, race and ethnicity, child support case features and collection history, characteristics of the custodial parent in the case, history of participation in employment programs, and employment and earnings history. Matches were based on the intervention group members' characteristics at the time individuals entered the Noncustodial Parent Choices program.

Time period of study:

The Noncustodial Parent Choices initiative was implemented in four sites in 2005. Participants were monitored for six months after they secured employment.

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

Sample characteristics

Age

Mean age

34 years

Sex

Female	4%
Male	97%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	25%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	64%

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

Parents	100%
Noncustodial parents	100%

Participant employment and public benefit status

Were employed	43%
Were unemployed	67%
Public benefits recipients	100%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the Texas Workforce Commission

Intervention services:

The Noncustodial Parent Choices program seeks to engage noncompliant noncustodial parents to provide them with services to become more responsible parents. The program gives them three options: pay their child support, participate in the Choices program, or go to jail. This program relies on collaboration among the OAG, court systems, and workforce agencies. If noncustodial parents opt to engage in the Choices program, they are referred to the local one-stop center for services. The Choices program—previously available only to custodial parents receiving public benefits—provides employment and training to noncustodial parents of children who are receiving public assistance or who have previously received public assistance. The program begins with a workforce orientation, job-readiness services, and job search activities. People pursuing employment are also eligible for supportive services, including transportation assistance. Those who do not find employment face community service requirements. Participants are also eligible for post-employment services related to job retention and advancement. Training is available through Choices, but few participants engaged in training activities. Finally, those who secure employment are monitored for six months.

Mandatory services:

Intervention participants were required to pay child support, participate in Choices, or go to jail.

Comparison services:

The comparison group was composed of noncustodial parents in the same regions of Texas who were not ordered to participate in the Choices program and who therefore had access only to business-as-usual services.

Study publications

Schroeder, Daniel, and Stephanie Chiarello (2008). Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Program impact analysis, Austin, TX: Ray Marshall Center. Available at https://raymarshallcenter.org/2008/08/31/texas-non-custodial-parent-3/.

Schroeder, Daniel, Kelley Stewart Nichols, Elizabeth McGuinness, Christopher T. King, Esmeralda Garcia, Sarah Looney Oldmixon, and Andy David (2007). Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Preliminary program impact analysis, Austin, TX: Ray Marshall Center. Available at http://raymarshallcenter.org/files/2007/02/ncp_choices_final_prelim.pdf.

Schroeder, Daniel, Stephanie Chiarello, Kelley Stewart Nichols, Christopher T. King, and Elizabeth McGuinness (2007). Texas Non-Custodial Parent Choices: Program impact analysis plan, Austin, TX: Ray Marshall Center. Available at https://raymarshallcenter.org/2007/08/31/texas-non-custodial-parent-2/.

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 Noncustodial Parent (NCP) Choices