Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare: Descriptive Evaluation Design Report

Publication Date: November 16, 2022
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  • Published: 2022

Introduction

Research Questions

  1. How did implementing the BSC contribute to the launch and potential sustainment of strategies and approaches for engaging fathers and paternal relatives?
  2. Are father and paternal relative engagement strategies linked with increased levels of father and paternal relative and/or caseworker engagement?
  3. To what extent did the BSC facilitate organization-level and/or system-level culture shifts for engaging fathers and paternal relatives?
  4. Is the BSC a useful and promising tool for addressing the challenges facing child welfare agencies?

When child welfare agencies successfully engage fathers in their children’s cases, the agencies create a connection that can improve children’s outcomes (Casey Family Programs 2019). Despite research showing that engaging fathers and extended family can benefit children (e.g. Diniz et al. 2021, Erola et al. 2018, Corwin et al. 2020) and a deepening focus on parent engagement in child welfare, fathers have historically not been well engaged in child welfare services (Administration for Children and Families 2018).

The Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare (FCL) project, conducted by Mathematica and the University of Denver (DU), is testing the methodology of the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) to (1) strengthen the engagement of fathers and paternal relatives with their children in child welfare and (2) add to the evidence base on potentially promising engagement strategies - that is, strategies that do not yet have evidence but are starting to be tested, for these fathers and paternal relatives. The BSC methodology pairs methods with values that distinguish it from other continuous learning processes, such as continuous cross-site shared learning opportunities, efforts to broaden participation by reducing power differentials among participants in the change process, and an emphasis on small tests of change.

Purpose

This design report describes our approach to the FCL descriptive study. The study has three aims. The first is to describe potentially promising strategies and approaches for engaging fathers and paternal relatives in the child welfare system. The second is to assess the promise of the BSC as a continuous quality improvement (CQI) framework for addressing challenges in the child welfare system—for example, whether and to what extent the BSC has potential for use in the child welfare field, and if so, how it may be applied to other child welfare challenges. The third is to assess the extent to which child welfare agencies experienced a shift in organizational culture after implementing the BSC. The FCL descriptive study is not intended to draw causal or other statistical inferences about the effectiveness of the BSC or any of the strategies that agencies developed and tested in the BSC. Instead, we will seek to describe promising practices and potential next steps for continued research.

Key Findings and Highlights

  • The FCL descriptive study is taking place between June 2021 and March 2023.
  • The FCL descriptive study is informed by a pilot study (Fung et al. 2021), which documented how the BSC was implemented in FCL, how agencies participated in the BSC components, and the different types of strategies they developed and piloted during the BSC.
  • Five child welfare agencies are participating in the FCL descriptive study, serving Los Angeles County, California; Hartford and Manchester, Connecticut; Denver, Colorado; Prowers County, Colorado; and Wake County, North Carolina.
  • Data collection activities in the FCL descriptive study include: (1) a survey of child welfare staff and partners; (2) analysis of program data; (3) semi-structured interviews with child welfare staff, partners, and community members; and (4) focus groups with fathers and paternal relatives. Information related to the study’s data collection instruments can be found on the study registration page on the Open Science Framework and they are included as appendices to the report.
  • A final report that describes findings from the descriptive study and includes options for integrating promising strategies into other child welfare settings will be developed and released in 2023. We are also exploring different options for short, engaging products to reach a wide range of audiences.

Citation

Baumgartner, Scott, Allon Kalisher, Nickie Fung, Jennifer Bellamy, Roseana Bess, and Matthew Stagner (2022). Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare: Descriptive Evaluation Design Report, OPRE Report #2022-265, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Glossary

BSC:
Breakthrough Series Collaborative
CQI:
Continuous quality improvement
FCL:
Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare
IRB:
Institutional Review Board
MOU:
Memorandum of Understanding
NIRN:
National Implementation Research Network
PRA:
Paperwork Reduction Act