External Evaluations of Providence House
Providence House has participated in two long-term outcomes studies with researchers from Case Western Reserve University to measure the effectiveness of our services.
Dr. David Crampton Study
First in the U.S.
This is the first study of crisis nursery outcomes against public data in the United States
Independent University Evaluation
Directed by David Crampton, PhD., Associate Professor of Social Work at the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University – respected child welfare researcher
5 Year Evaluation Period
The study assessed the relationship and outcomes between families who received Providence House services between 2006-2009 and public child welfare system data from 2005-2010
Nationally and Locally Funded
By the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and several local funders
Major Findings
Reduced Foster Care Placements
When parents and guardians engage in Providence House services, and complete recommended Providence House services (case management, parent education, and Aftercare), their children are less likely to be placed in foster care after they leave Providence House.
Successful Minority Families
Minority families (African American and Bi-racial) are the most successful (vs. Caucasian), with more engagement in Providence House services and less foster care involvement after their child’s stay.
Sometimes It Takes More Than Once
26% of children at Providence House in this study had multiple admissions. Families that used Providence House multiple times were found to be no more likely to become involved with the foster care system than families that only used Providence House once.
PERI Study
To prove that our services have a long-term impact that goes beyond foster care prevention, Providence House also engaged in an evaluation with the Partnership for Program Evaluation and Research Implementation (PERI).
This evaluation, conducted by researchers from the Begun Center at Case Western Reserve University, found that families who participate in our services experience greater long-term success in obtaining housing, employment, and income, among other social determinants of health. a high-quality program evaluation resource for health and human services organizations, to help ensure that our data points reflected the impactful outcomes achieved from our programs and services.
Major Findings
Educational Engagement
30%
increase in child educational enrollment
Employment Attainment
73%
improvement in the number of clients who are employed.
Housing Stability
16%
increase in families living in their own house or apartment.
PERI researchers also assisted us in revising the questions we ask parents and guardians to help us to better evaluate our program internally.
What’s Next?
To further prove the enduring impact of Providence House services beyond the findings from our two previous evaluations, we are now focused on completing another external evaluation.
This evaluation will focus not only on foster care prevention, but on our service as an alternative response to foster care for open case families as well as further evaluating minority success in our program. We are also seeking to share our data through current community data systems in an effort to monitor the continuum of services helping children and families in our community.