Project Description

The Positive Adolescent Futures (PAF) grant program is a key element of the federal strategy to support teens and young adults who are having or raising a child. Administered by the Office of Adolescent Health (OAH), this grant program funded a second cohort of 17 grantees to develop and implement programs focused on outcomes, including increasing access to and completion of secondary and postsecondary education, improving child and maternal health, reducing the likelihood of repeat teen pregnancies, increasing parenting and co-parenting skills, decreasing intimate partner violence, and raising awareness of available resources.

DIR conducted baseline and follow-up surveys with the program participants of two grantees—the Houston Department of Health and Human Services (Texas) and the California Department of Public Health, Division of Maternal, Adolescent and Child Health (California).

For the Texas baseline data collection, DIR was responsible for enrolling eligible participants into the Healthy Family, Healthy Futures program, obtaining their consent to be part of the study, collecting demographic and other information, randomly assigning participants, and completing the baseline survey from August 2016 through October 2017. A subset of the baseline sample (25) received in-depth interviews as a result of the grantee’s suspension of the Healthy Family, Health Futures program.

A mixed-mode strategy was implemented for both the 12- and 24-month follow-up surveys in California. DIR was responsible for locating and conducting all field follow-up surveys. Data collection for the 12-month follow-up survey ended in April 2018. The data collection for the 24-month follow-up survey will end in April 2019.