Try, Reflect, Try Again: How Fatherhood Programs Used Learning Cycles in Efforts to Improve Participation Outcomes (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, May 23, 2023)
Author: West, Keri, Diego Quezada, Jonny Poilpré, and Rebecca Behrmann.
West, Keri, Diego Quezada, Jonny Poilpré, and Rebecca Behrmann. 2023. “Try, Reflect, Try Again: How Fatherhood Programs Used Learning Cycles in Efforts to Improve Participation Outcomes.” OPRE Report 2023-71. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Introduction
Social service programs are often looking for ways to assess and improve the outcomes of their work. One method that programs may use to do so are “rapid- cycle evaluation,” or “learning cycles.” When implementing learning cycles, programs try a new approach, assess how well it works, modify to strengthen the approach implementation or design, and then try again. This brief describes how the Strengthening the Implementation of Responsible Fatherhood programs (SIRF) study worked with fatherhood programs to assess new approaches to recruiting, engaging, and retaining men in their services. The piece includes 10 examples demonstrating what these learning cycles looked like in practice for the participating programs.
Purpose
Key Findings and Highlights
- Using the Learn-Do-Reflect framework, programs tried the new strategies, reflected on the data they collected from various sources, and then decided how to approach the subsequent cycle.
- The data programs collected helped them understand in real time how their new approaches were being implemented and allowed them to make informed decisions to improve the approach.
- Social service programs can use data to make decisions and improve programs in this way even if they do not use learning cycles.
Methods
The learning cycles discussed in this brief were conducted as part of the SIRF project. SIRF used learning cycles to test the efficacy of new outreach approaches, peer mentoring, and a coaching approach to case management in improving program enrollment, engagement, and retention within fatherhood programs. These programs provide services to fathers to promote strong parenting practices, healthy relationships, and economic stability.
In SIRF, each learning cycle had three phases: “Learn,” “Do,” and “Reflect.” The elements of the three phases are:
- Learn: Train and prepare to implement
- Do: Implement the new approach
- Reflect: Assess data and the reflections of staff members and participants and develop a plan for the next cycle
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