Funded by the Administration of Children and Families (ACF)’ Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, the Responsible Fatherhood Local Evaluation Technical Assistance (RFLETA) project provided evaluation technical assistance to local evaluators of 39 responsible fatherhood programs across the country. These programs were recipients of ACF’s fourth cohort (2020-2025) of Fatherhood Family-focused, Interconnected, Resilient and Essential (Fatherhood FIRE) grants. RFLETA team members, known as Evaluation Technical Assistance Partners, provided tailored support that included group-based training and resources, one-on-one evaluation calls, and the facilitation of a cross-grantee collaboration community, all designed to meet the varying needs of local evaluators. The Fatherhood FIRE local evaluations analyzed participant outcomes through descriptive evaluations, documented program delivery through implementation evaluations, and tested the effects of various interventions through impact evaluations. Together, these efforts contributed to the broader evidence base of responsible fatherhood programs.
RFLETA was a continuation of the work originally performed under the Strengthening the Implementation of Responsible Fatherhood Programs project. MEF was a subcontractor to MDRC on this project.