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Impact Evaluation of Bridges to Success

Last registered on February 06, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Impact Evaluation of Bridges to Success
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002074
Initial registration date
April 21, 2017

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 24, 2017, 10:30 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
February 06, 2019, 4:41 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
Rochester, New York

Primary Investigator

Name
David Phillips
Affiliation
University of Notre Dame
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Javier Espinosa
PI Affiliation
Rochester Institute of Technology
Contact Investigator
PI Name
William Evans
PI Affiliation
University of Notre Dame
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2017-03-01
End date
2020-12-31
Keywords
Welfare
Additional Keywords
RCT, mentoring, case management, poverty, out of poverty, self sufficiency, intensive case management
JEL code(s)
I32, I38
Secondary IDs
Abstract

More than 46 million people in the United States live in poverty. The issue of poverty is particularly pervasive in the city of Rochester, NY. The Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI), in partnership with the New York Governor's State Anti-Poverty Task Force, is piloting a program to target poverty in the Rochester-Monroe region. Exhaustive community research has led RMAPI to pilot an adult mentor/navigator program that addresses the issues identified as pervasive in the city of Rochester: a knowledge gap about available services and how to navigate them, and a need for coordinated services.

In order to measure the pilot's success and make decisions about scaling the program up, RMAPI has asked the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities from the University of Notre Dame to run an evaluation of the pilot as a randomized controlled trial. This evaluation will test the hypothesis that providing a professional mentor/navigator program in a targeted area of concentrated poverty will increase economic mobility for program participants, resulting in improved self-sufficiency. Results from this study will inform policy decisions not only in the city of Rochester, but may be disseminated to policy makers in other regions to inform the design of future anti-poverty initiatives.



External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Espinosa, Javier, William Evans and David Phillips. 2019. "Impact Evaluation of Bridges to Success." AEA RCT Registry. February 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2074-3.0
Former Citation
Espinosa, Javier, William Evans and David Phillips. 2019. "Impact Evaluation of Bridges to Success." AEA RCT Registry. February 06. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2074/history/41165
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This pilot program will test the hypothesis that providing a professional mentor/navigator program in a targeted area of concentrated poverty will increase economic mobility for program participants resulting in improved self-sufficiency.

The study will pilot and evaluate an adult mentor/navigator program called Bridges for Success in an area of concentrated poverty in Rochester. Program participants will work with a professional mentor/navigator to set goals to move towards economic self-sufficiency and stability. The intervention will be an innovation in the Rochester community and will incorporate evidence-based practices of the Crittenton Women’s Union (CWU) Mobility Mentor and the Family Foundations 1,000 in 1,0005 methodologies. Both models are based on building a participant’s human, social, and financial assets. An RCT methodology will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the mentor/navigator’s interventions in helping individuals achieve critical assets and/or make moves toward self-sufficiency.

The approach is focused on the participant, who is coached by the mentor/navigator with support from specialized employment and dependent liaisons. The mentor/navigator and liaisons have access to an established network of service providers called the Partner Provider Network. Through this network, the participant is provided with comprehensive support services to help achieve critical assets.

CWU’s Mobility Mentoring is a professional mentoring method of partnering with clients to systematically identify and overcome barriers to economic mobility and attain and preserve economic independence. The model relies on a theory of change framework called the Bridge to Self-Sufficiency® and fosters economic mobility by supporting five critical pillars in an individual’s life: 1) family stability, 2) well-being, 3) job preparation 4) financial stability, and 5) obtaining and sustaining a career leading to a living wage job. Each of these pillars has rungs describing a graduated progression of achievement; setting and attaining explicitly defined goals in each pillar effectively bridges the gap between poverty and self-sufficiency.

The approach uses a Bridge to Self-Sufficiency assessment tool to structure dialogue with participants around each pillar, establish goals, and create plans for action. The planning process results in documented goals that the participant has stake in and is accountable for achieving. Mentors coach, share resources, and refer participants to partner organizations to support participants in achieving goals.

Two specialized liaisons- one for employment and one for dependents- also support participants.
3) Employment Liaison: builds relationships with employers while simultaneously advocating education of clients on how to prepare for entering the work force. This role will assist the mentor role in helping participants move into ‘Hot Jobs’ or positions that require 2 years or less of training or education and are in high demand locally.
4) Dependent Liaison: assists participants in meeting the needs of their dependents through education support, effective parenting skills, and child advocacy.

The Partner Provider Network (PPN) is an established group of service providers and organizations that mentor/navigators have access to for participant engagement. The PPN is a collection of local service providers that focus on assets like affordable housing, health and behavioral health, and job acquisition and retention, which are critical to a person’s ability in obtaining self-sufficiency.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2017-03-01
Intervention End Date
2020-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
employment, income, savings, health, housing stability, debt
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
RCT
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
On-the-spot lottery conducted by a computer program
Randomization Unit
individual level
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
0
Sample size: planned number of observations
300
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
150 treatment; 150 control
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Notre Dame IRB
IRB Approval Date
2016-09-12
IRB Approval Number
16-07-3246
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

LEO+-+BTOS+Evaluation+Pre+Analysis+Plan.pdf

MD5: 1deee21e56311e6a3ba6db9ed6fe55fd

SHA1: 136a8144b72e46747f29d9718f3795485e3fa21a

Uploaded At: February 06, 2019

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials