United Way of Central Indiana: Great Families 2020

United Way of Central Indiana (UWCI) developed the service delivery model, Great Families 2020 (GF2020), to help improve financial stability among families in Indianapolis. The program incorporates a two-generational approach to affect both adults and their children who are in need of economic stability.

GF2020 is based on Ascend’s 2Gen model, using family case management to direct at-risk families to evidence-based interventions and wraparound services. The aim is for the service delivery model to improve multiple outcomes for participating families, both as individuals and as a family unit.

Study Goals:

The goal of the study was to assess the extent to which GF 2020 provides services as designed and to describe its barriers to implementation.

Research Questions:

The evaluation included an implementation and feasibility study. The research questions were:

• Implementation Questions:
  • To what extent is the GF2020 model implemented with fidelity?
  • How does implementation of the GF2020 model vary by site?
  • What barriers exist to implementation of the GF2020 model?
• Feasibility Questions:
  • Based on fidelity to the GF2020 model, what factors prevent effective measurement of a comparison group?
  • Can data for treatment and comparison groups be collected and captured effectively?
  • What barriers exist to developing a comparison group?
  • What factors prevent development and retention of a treatment group for an impact study?
  • What initial findings from participants may inform a future impact study?

Findings:

The study found the following:

• Implementation Findings:
  • The GF2020 model is promising to both staff and participants and managed issues associated with the implementation of a new model.
  • Staff were able to recruit families meeting core criteria and enroll them in services with set goals based on their needs. At the same time, referrals are not consistently provided to participants, likely due to differences in needs across participants.
  • Subgrantees were delayed in official recruitment, enrollment, and programmatic activities, initially resulting in unequal enrollment numbers across sites, which have become more consistent.
• Feasibility Findings:
  • GF2020’s initial findings suggest statistically and practically significant outcomes among program participants, particularly in short-term outcomes related to parenting, child development, civic engagement, and mental health.
  • A comparison group study is feasible but should take place following the continued implementation and exploratory study to account for sufficient time for analysis.
  • The research would increase initial analytical focus on short-term outcomes given the remaining length of the grant but continue to track relationships between the influence of programming on both short and longer-term outcomes.

For more information, download the full report and report brief.