Responsible Fatherhood programs face a number of implementation challenges, including recruiting fathers, enrolling them in services, and keeping them actively engaged in services so they can realize their goals. This project, funded by the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, is studying ways to help programs overcome these hurdles using learning cycles, which use an iterative approach to identify implementation roadblocks, design and test solutions, interpret findings, and adapt practices and measurement. SIRF seeks to improve Responsible Fatherhood programming using a continuous cycle of evidence building, implementation, and adaptation that is attuned to the real-world needs of the people who provide the services and the fathers who use them. The SIRF study team is providing evaluation and technical assistance to Responsible Fatherhood grantees and local evaluators to strengthen program capacity to conduct rigorous evaluations that contribute to the broader evidence base.
MEF and Insight Policy Research are subcontractors to MDRC on this project.