Evaluation of Healthy Families Massachusetts

MHFE Phase 1 (MHFE-1)

Our first-cohort evaluation of HFM was composed of three overlapping components:

• the Process Study, which investigated HFM program operations;
• the Outcome Study, which investigated the effects of the program;
• the Ethnography, which informed both other components.

MHFE-1 employed a quasi-experimental design, relying on other sources of comparison data, such as state and nationwide historical data on key indicators and extant data from studies of adolescents and young parents. Using a mixed methods approach, data were collected from a sample of 361 HFM participants, at six-month intervals, at four different time points over a period of 18 months. The ethnographic substudy, conducted in three communities, explored participants’ beliefs about parenting, childrearing, and help-seeking, and the extent to which HFM services were consonant with those beliefs.

MHFE-1 yielded provocative findings pertaining to the operations of HFM, and to its perceived and observed effects among the young families it served.

Downloads:  Final Report  |  Executive Summary