AVANCE: Family, Relationship, and Marriage Education Works - Adults (FRAMEWorks) Study

This study was in response to Grant Number HHS-2020-ACF-OZA-ZB-1817 from the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Study enrollment began on April 1, 2021, and continued through March 1, 2024. The sample size for the study was 1,403. The goal of the descriptive evaluation was to assess the extent to which participation in the program was associated with improved parenting, co-parenting, and financial attitudes and behaviors among program participants. The aim of the AVANCE-Houston FRAMEWorks program was to promote healthy family relationships and economic stability, particularly in areas with a high number of single-family households, high poverty rates, low educational attainment, and high incidences of domestic violence. We believe this report can inform practitioners in the HMRF field and beyond about innovative approaches that help adults from predominately low-income households build the skills necessary to engage in healthy relationships and economic behaviors. Primary research questions for this study are as follows: a) How did parenting attitude outcomes change from program enrollment to program completion? b) How did parenting behavior outcomes change from program enrollment to one year after enrollment? c) How did partner relationship attitude outcomes change from program enrollment to program completion? d) How did partner relationship behavior outcomes change from program enrollment to one year after enrollment? e) How did employment attitude outcomes change from program enrollment to one year after enrollment? f) How did financial readiness behavior outcomes change from program enrollment to one year after enrollment? Secondary research questions for this study are as follows: g) How did participant outcomes above change from program enrollment to program completion or one year after enrollment when delivering the SSHF curriculum with a virtual format compared to an in-person format? h) How did participant outcomes above change from program enrollment to program completion or one year after enrollment when delivering the SSHF curriculum in English-language compared to Spanish-language? Implementation study research questions are as follows: a) To what extent is the SSHF curriculum received by program participants? b) What were the unplanned adaptations to key intervention components? Participants in the study resided in the greater Houston, TX area. At 76%, the majority of AVANCE FRAMEWorks participants received the program virtually. The average age of participants was 40 years, and almost three-fourths reported that they were in a relationship. The average age of their youngest child was just above eight years of age. Most (75%) participants were female. The majority of participants (64%) indicated they were Hispanic, with exactly 50% reporting their race as White and 26% as Black or African American. About 44% of participants reported having full-time employment, and 35% reported being either unemployed or a stay-at-home parent/homemaker at the time of survey completion. Paired t-tests were conducted on continuous constructs using timepoint 1 (nFORM Entrance, OLLE Pre) and timepoint 2 (nFORM Exit, OLLE Post, OLLE Follow-Up) data. For categorical variables—such as yes/no questions about having a checking or savings account or a resume—McNemar’s chi-square tests were used to compare pre- to post-test differences in proportions. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05, and no adjustments for multiple comparisons were made. Tests were reported in terms of p-values. Results were significant and positive for participants’ partner relationships, financial readiness, and employment outlook. We did not find a significant association with the parenting attitudes outcome, measured from baseline to post-program, or parenting behaviors outcome, measured from baseline to one-year post-enrollment. When analyzing virtual and in-person subgroups, we found the same positive results in the group of participants who received the program virtually compared to the overall results. We also found similar results for participants who received the program in person; however, there was not a significant association with employment outlook. We found high rates of program retention, with 95% of participants reaching the required number of curriculum hours on average.