What are the Effects of Pairing Head Start Services for Children with Career Pathway Training for Parents?Authors: P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, Teresa Eckrich Sommer, Terri J. Sabol, Northwestern University; Elise Chor, Temple University; Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Columbia University; Hirokazu Yoshikawa, New York University; Christopher King, The University of Texas at Austin; and Amanda Morris, Oklahoma State University - Tulsa

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2 EFFECTS OF PAIRING HEAD START SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH CAREER PATHWAY TRAINING FOR PARENTS

INTRODUCTION ■ CareerAdvance®, developed and run by the Community Action Project of Tulsa County(CAP Tulsa), is a model two-generation intervention that pairs early childhood education forchildren with career pathway training in the health care sector for parents.

■ CareerAdvance® recruits parents from high quality Head Start centers and offers careerladders through certification programs in the healthcare field at no cost to families.Additional elements include career coaching, small peer learning groups, financial incentivesfor parents’ educational progress, and wraparound early care and education for children.

■ This represents the first study of this type of two-generation program and is the beginningof a series of evaluations of CareerAdvance®’s effects on parents and children.

■ We are also studying a scaled-up, less expensive version of the CareerAdvance®model. More time is needed to conduct cost-benefit analyses and measure longer-term gains.

KEY FINDINGS■ CareerAdvance® promotes parents’ career certificate attainment, employment in thehealthcare sector, and overall well-being. CareerAdvance® also improves children’s HeadStart attendance and reduces chronic absenteeism.

■ This study provides strong evidence that pairing high-quality Head Start services with jobtraining for parents produces positive outcomes for parents and children beyond the benefits ofHead Start alone.

3IMPACT ANALYSIS

Employment and Income

CareerAdvance® achieved its goal of promoting healthcare employment in one year: 52% of program parents were employed in the healthcare sector at year end compared to 30% of the matched comparison group.

■ Parents in the CareerAdvance® program shifted from full-time to part-timeemployment. Part-time work likely helped CareerAdvance® participants balance thecompeting demands of adding school to a job and family.

■ CareerAdvance® parents did not report a change in material hardship or householdincome at the end of the first year of the program. While participants experienced a $1,937decrease in average earnings by the end of the first year, these losses were offset by programincentive payments over the course of the year.

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• We are also studying a scaled-up, less expensive version of theCareerAdvance® model. More time is needed to conduct cost-benefit analyses and measure longer-term gains.

KEY FINDINGS

• CareerAdvance® promotes parents’ career certificate attainment,employment in the healthcare sector, and overall well-being.CareerAdvance® also improves children’s Head Start attendanceand reduces chronic absenteeism.

• This study provides strong evidence that pairing high-quality Head Start services with job training for parents produces positiveoutcomes for parents and children beyond the benefits of HeadStart alone.

RESULTS

CERTIFICATION IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR

***

***Statistically significant at 1% level

0.050.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

Certification

Perc

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Career Certificate Attainment

Comparison Group CareerAdvance Group

***

*** Statistically significant at 1% level

RESULTSCertification in the Healthcare Sector

rAdvance® one Caree promotes parents’ postsecondary educational attainment: after year, 62% of participants attained a career certificate compared to 3% of parents in the matched comparison group.

0.62

0.03

***

4 EFFECTS OF PAIRING HEAD START SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH CAREER PATHWAY TRAINING FOR PARENTS

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• CareerAdvance® promotes parents’ postsecondary educationalattainment: after one year, 66% of participants attained a careercertificate compared to 5% of parents in the matched comparison group.

EMPLOYMENT & INCOME

• CareerAdvance® achieved its goal of promoting healthcareemployment in one year: 49% of program parents were employed in the healthcare sector at year end compared to 31% of thematched comparison group.

• Parents in the CareerAdvance® program shifted from full-time topart-time employment. Part-time work likely helpedCareerAdvance® participants balance the competing demands ofadding school to a job and family.

• CareerAdvance® parents did not report a change in materialhardship or household income at the end of the first year of theprogram. While participants experienced a $2,000 decrease in average earnings by the end of the first year, these losses were offset by program incentive payments over the course of the year.

***Statistically significant at 1% level

0.30

0.52

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Perc

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Employment in Healthcare Sector

Comparison Group CareerAdvance Group

***

***

*** Statistically significant at 1% level

Comparisons to Other Career Pathways Programs

Overall, the CareerAdvance® program resulted in greater improvements in certification and employment than comparable career pathway training programs.

■ Recent experimental evaluations of career pathway training programs include Per Scholasand Jewish Vocational Services-Boston.

■ The Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership (WRTP) program is the most comparableto CareerAdvance® (e.g., healthcare certification combined with supportive services) and reached certification rates of 26% to 34%.

5IMPACT ANALYSIS

Parents’ Psychological Well-Being

At the end of year one, CareerAdvance® participants demonstrated higher levels of psychological well-being than their matched comparison group counterparts. CareerAdvance® participants had stronger commitment to careers and higher levels of self-efficacy and optimism compared to the matched comparison group (effect sizes presented below).

■ Despite the challenge of balancing work, school, and parenting, CareerAdvance® parentsdid not exhibit higher levels of stress and psychological distress compared to thematched comparison group.

Children’s Head Start Attendance

Children’s average Head Start attendance over the year, a significant factor in their learning, was higher in the treatment group (90% attendance out of the total number of days enrolled) than in the comparison group (87%).

■ The average rate of chronic absence (more than 10% of school days) was higheramong the comparison group (64%) than in the treatment group (49%).

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COMPARISONS TO OTHER CAREER PATHWAY PROGRAMS

• Overall, the CareerAdvance® program resulted in greaterimprovements in certification and employment than comparablecareer pathway training programs.

• Recent experimental evaluations of career pathway training programs include Per Scholas and Jewish Vocational Services-Boston.

• The Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership (WRTP) program isthe most comparable to CareerAdvance® (e.g., healthcare certification combined with supportive services) and reached certification rates of 26% to 34% (compared to 66% forCareerAdvance®).

PARENTS’ PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

0.24 0.230.30

-0.04

-0.18-0.2

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0

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Career Commitment

Self-Efficacy Optimism Perceived Stress Psychological DistressSt

anda

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evia

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Units

Improvements in Parents' Psychological Well-Being

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**Statistically significant at 5% level

**

** Statistically significant at 5% level

6 EFFECTS OF PAIRING HEAD START SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH CAREER PATHWAY TRAINING FOR PARENTS

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONKey Elements of CareerAdvance®

■ The program offered stackable training in three healthcare tracks —nursing, healthinformation technology, and medical assisting— designed so that participants could make concrete progress, exit at various points with certificates, and return for further career advancement.

■ CAP Tulsa developed close partnerships with community colleges and offered collegecoursework and trainings while children were in Head Start.

■ Peer meetings with other participating parents were led by trained CAP Tulsa careercoaches and took place at Head Start.

■ Incentives to reduce the financial burden of entering school (up to $3,000 each year) wereoffered to parents for meeting grade or credit requirements, attending peer partner meetings,or attaining a certificate.

■ In-kind assistance was provided to further help parents make ends meet, including buspasses, gas cards, and child care outside of Head Start’s normal hours.

■ All families received full-day early care and education for children at Head Start programs.

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• At the end of year one, CareerAdvance® participantsdemonstrated higher levels of psychological well-being than theirmatched comparison group counterparts. CareerAdvance®

participants had stronger commitment to careers and higherlevels of self-efficacy and optimism compared to the matched comparison group (effect sizes presented above).

• Despite the challenge of balancing work, school, and parenting,CareerAdvance® parents did not exhibit higher levels of stress andpsychological distress compared to the matched comparison group.

CHILDREN’S HEAD START ATTENDANCE

• Children’s average Head Start attendance over the year, asignificant factor in their learning, was higher in the treatmentgroup (90% attendance out of the total number of days enrolled)than in the comparison group (87%).

87%

64%

90%

49%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

100%

School days attended Chronically absent

Perc

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geChildren's Average Head Start Attendance and

Chronic Absenteeism

Comparison Group CareerAdvance Group

**

***

** Statistically significant at 5% level; *** statistically significant at 1% level

7IMPACT ANALYSIS

STUDY DESCRIPTION ■ The study estimated the one-year effect of CareerAdvance® (job training for parents combined with Head Start for children) compared to Head Start alone.

■ All study families were low-income (average income per year of $15,273) with an average household size of four, including one preschooler (on average 4 years old) and another child. The sample was ethnically and racially diverse: 41% Black, 29% White, 9% Hispanic, and 21%other. Roughly one-third of the sample were single parents.

■ Our sample included 258 CAP Tulsa Head Start parents and their young children, roughly half in CareerAdvance® and half in the matched comparison group.

■ The study included multiple cohorts (cohorts 4-10 of the program) that started at staggered time points (fall and winter of each Head Start year, beginning in fall 2011 through fall 2014).

■ To select the matched comparison group, we used a matching technique (two-stage propensity score matching), which adjusts for differences between groups in interest in pursuing educational and career activities and demographic factors to allow for a justifiable and meaningful estimate of the effect of CareerAdvance® relative to Head Start.

■ The study drew on parent surveys and administrative data from CAP Tulsa and the State of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2015.

October 2017