Recruitment and Retention for Stepfamily Education

1. Recruitment and Retention for Stepfamily Education Linda Skogrand Associate Professor and Extension Specialist Katie Henderson-Reck Graduate Research Assistant Brian Higginbotham Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist Francesca Adler-Baeder Associate Professor and Extension Specialist Loni Dansie Undergraduate Research Assistant

2. Marriage and Relationship Education (MRE)Targeting Stepfamilies �If it is offered, they will come� Recruitment and retention is a critical aspect of family life programming. Inadequate recruitment and retention strategies undermine the potential of programs to reach families and make a difference in their lives (Cooney, Small, & O�Connor, 2007). Attracting stepfamilies to MREs is particularly difficult due to additional challenges these families face on a daily basis (Adler-Baeder & Higginbotham, 2004). In an attempt to assist MRE providers in their efforts to recruit and retain stepfamily participants, this paper establishes new, and verifies already existing strategies for diverse audiences. Recruitment and retention of participants are critical aspects of family life programming. The approach �if it is offered, they will come� is a programmatic gamble Recruitment and retention of participants are critical aspects of family life programming. The approach �if it is offered, they will come� is a programmatic gamble

3. Current Literature

4. Barriers to Stepfamily Participation Perceived social stigma and the complexity of the family structure (e.g. Robertson et al., 2006). Greater stress and more difficulty with issues such as communication, finances, and parenting (Ganong & Coleman, 2004). Low-income stepfamilies may have difficulty paying for the cost of programs, finding transportation to program sites, and securing childcare (Robertson et al., 2006). These families may not realize the unique characteristics of their situation and, therefore, may not feel they need education services or that there are services available to meet their specific needs (Adler-Baeder & Higginbotham, 2004). - Social stigma and complexity often involves co-residence of family members which make it difficult for participants to attend- Social stigma and complexity often involves co-residence of family members which make it difficult for participants to attend

5. Barriers to Family Life Participation Common barriers found in the family life education Time restrictions and scheduling. Not attending all of the provided meeting. Feeling the program required too much family time. Invasion of privacy. Not feeling the need for the intervention. Other family members not wanting to participate in the family program. (Spoth et al., 1996)

6. Current Strategies used in Recruitment and Retention Recruitment and retention strategies for family life programs, in general, are quite prevalent in the literature. Lack of empirical testing and effectiveness is likely contingent on characteristics of the target population (Cooney et al., 2007). What strategies work: Programs need to gain a sense of trust with potential participants. Large institutions or government may scare program participants, particularly among ethnically diverse populations (e.g. African Americans and Latino populations).

7. Current Strategies used in Recruitment and Retention Passive or low-cost recruitment Flyers Advertisements Mailings Public Service Announcements Active or time-intensive recruitment Face-to face contact Trusted referral sources Schools Community centers Family centers Passive recruitment may be inneffective if they are unavailable to the target population Passive recruitment may be inneffective if they are unavailable to the target population

8. Current Strategies used in Recruitment and Retention Provide incentives Cash Gift certificates Meals Transportation Grocery cards Child care Gatekeepers and community outreach Existing knowledge and trust within the community Hiring and training culturally sensitive staff, have low-turnover, and flexible scheduling None of these strategies have been validated in stepfamily populations.

9. Consistent with calls for more research on stepfamily MRE (Hughes & Schroeder, 1997), the purpose of this study is to document successful stepfamily recruitment and retention strategies that can aid future programmatic efforts.

10. Methodology Smart Steps stepfamily education program (Adler-Baeder, 2007). Course lasted 12 hours, six two hour sessions. Ten courses were offered by established, community-based, family-service organizations during a four-month period. 230 adults and 222 children ages 6-17 years attended.

11. Methodology Qualitative interviews 40 adult participants (30 English-speaking and 10 Spanish-speaking) 20 facilitators (12 English-speaking and 8 Spanish-speaking classes). Participants were selected by the Project Manager who identified couples from a list of attendees for each course. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and translated if necessary.

12. Analyses Procedures described by Bogdan and Biklen (2003) Researchers immersed themselves in the data to gain a sense of totality of the data. Identified coding categories in answer to the research question What strategies were most effective in recruiting low-income European American and Latino stepfamilies into a research-based stepfamily education program? Coding was done independently by each researcher and coding schemes were shared and agreed upon.

13. Sample 57% of participants were female, 43% male 22 to 47 years of age, mean of 36 years. Education: 9th grade to completion of graduate school, mean was one year post high school education. Income mean was $20,000 to $25,000. No statistical differences regarding gender, age, education, or income level between the sample and all other enrollees.

14. Findings Recruitment - How participants heard about the course. - Motivation to attend the course. Retention - Incentives -Children -On-going contact

15. How Participants Heard about the Course � Personal Invitation Personal invitation through word-of-mouth was found to be the most affective strategy for program participants. This included: phone calls, home visits, emails, or other means of personal communication. Recruiting from within the agency and through community resources was also found to be affective. Participant: The facilitator knew that I was part of a prior marriage and my husband as well. She knew we were together and it was something that could help us if we had a problem, or because we had already experienced all this, we could help someone else. Facilitator: We went out and talked to a couple of the people we knew were in stepfamilies. They were the kind of parents that we had worked with before. They were very willing to participate and then they gave us names of their neighbors who were also in a stepfamily relationship. Then they gave us a name of their other neighbor who was another stepfamily. So we kind of went door to door and word of mouth. Most affective recruitment strategy was word of mouth or personal invitationMost affective recruitment strategy was word of mouth or personal invitation

16. How Participants Heard about the Course � Mass Media Mass Media including flyers, mailings, newspaper advertisements and public service announcements was the second most cited recruitment strategy. Participants We got one of these flyers in the mail from the school district about a stepfamily strengthening class. My wife talked to me and I said, �Absolutely, let�s do it.� Facilitators We also developed flyers and mailed them out to all the collateral agencies that we work with . . . . We sent flyers to them and asked them to distribute it to their clients and anyone else that they felt might be interested in the program. We had some facilitators go out into the community and post the flyers at various locations. We put posters in the community knowing where the Latinos frequently go, a lot of the import stores, the meat markets, the Spanish bakery, and Mexican bakeries. We gave them a pile of little half sheets that they can put in bags. I think the newspaper and the public service announcement really worked. I don�t believe we had any response from our other flyers that we sent out. It was mainly the newspaper and the PSA.

17. How Participants Heard about the Course � Family and Friend Referrals Family and friend referrals was the third most cited recruitment strategy. This included hearing about the course through their spouse, in-laws, neighbors, co-workers, and friends. Facilitator We had four people come . . . all because a participant started telling her family members. Once again, the Latino community is extremely tight, they talk to each other, they know what is happening. When it�s something new, they don�t always want to go alone so they try to bring other people along with them. We got a lot of families that way: �Come on, come with me.� This suggests that family and friends may become the strongest source of recruitment for future courses. All interviewed participants stated that they would recommend the program to others with several stating that they had alread done so. This suggests that family and friends may become the strongest source of recruitment for future courses. All interviewed participants stated that they would recommend the program to others with several stating that they had alread done so.

18. Motivation to Attend the Course Targeting individuals who are likely to be motivated and interested in the content showed to be an important factor in stepfamily recruitment. Individuals who were self-motivated to attend the course did so to: Gain information Solve problems and challenges within their stepfamily Create family unity.

19. Desire to Gain Information These participants attended because of the desire for knowledge and information which would assist their families. Participants We wanted the information, we really wanted it. [We wanted to participate in order] to see what we could learn about [step]families. No one has actually taught us anything about this particular area. We set out to find information on stepfamilies, trying to learn more about what we were dealing with. At the same time, we felt like we were in a vacuum and there wasn�t anybody really to talk to.

20. Desire to Solve Problems and Challenges within the Stepfamily Participants described becoming better parents, stepparents, dealing with challenges in their marriage, and dealing with exspouses as reasons why they attended the course. Participants: I need to work on my parenting skills, getting more, and getting along better [ with the stepfamily]. I decided to attend because we were going through a rough patch. We�d been married just about a year and I was beginning to wonder if the year was going to be the end�.[I wanted] some ideas on how to cope with my stepson and how to make my marriage better and not allow our situation to destroy the relationship that I have with my husband. We thought it would be a good idea to help strengthen our family, to help deal with each other, and my ex-wife.

21. Desire to Create Family Unity Participants expressed the desire to create greater family unity as a stepfamily, establish peace, and have greater togetherness. Participants: We want both of our families to feel as important to us after we�re married as they felt before we were married. We have his, hers, and ours [children] living together and I just wanted some good ideas on how to make our home more peaceful.

22. Retention: Incentives - Providing Meals Meals were provided to all participants and children. Participants described these meals appreciatively but stated that they were not necessary. Facilitators felt the meals significantly enhanced retention, especially the Latino classes. Participant If a meal hadn�t been provided, we would have still attended the course, but providing the meal made our evening that much easier. You didn�t have to worry about dinner, and it�s like a reward, it�s a treat, it�s nice. It�s definitely a perk associated with the program. Facilitator We did culturally appropriate food. We went to all the different Mexican restaurants and bakeries and got food from them.

23. Retention: Incentives � Program Supports A variety of program supports were utilized and dispersed to participants at each class and/or at the end of the course. Some were publicized and others were unannounced. Facilitator - Monetary support We paid families $10 an evening for attending, and we thought that was a good way to help motivate the parents. Facilitator - Prizes It was actually amazing how some of the men will win the prizes, the cut flowers [for example] and they would turn to their wife, and the wife would actually get emotional and say, �I never get flowers.� So it was something little, something that they would like. Participant [My children] liked the activities in the nursery. They were always excited about whether they came out with a feather or whether they came out with a mask or a Fruit Loop necklace, or a bird feeder.

24. Retention:Children Of the 34 interviewed participants who had children living in the household, 32 discussed having their children attend the class. The fact that their children could come and enjoy the classes too, encouraged the adults to continue attending. Participant I think she [my daughter] liked everything, she always wanted to come so she would not miss anything. �[the children] were sick earlier and they still wanted to come. When one father came home late from work and the family was unable to attend, the father stated: �they [my children] were absolutely devastated. They were really upset that they didn�t get to come. The kids really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. Facilitator �that was a big help in retaining our group. The kids liked it so much that they were the ones telling their parents, � We want to come back; we want to come to our class.�

25. Retention:On-going Contact by Staff Another means of maintaining attendance was regular staff contact with participants. This included personal phone calls and home visits in order to remind participants of upcoming classes and to thank them for their continued involvement. Facilitators What actually worked the most, I believe, were the phone calls and the thank-you notes. There were a lot of comments about just knowing that we were constantly thinking of them. It made them feel a little bit more appreciated for their time. We were always trying to add something personal, something to personalize their particular commitment to this program. We also called every week to remind them, �just wanted to make sure you remembered class tonight. We�re looking forward to seeing you,� and that kind of thing.

26. Summary Findings found that program participants and facilitators in this study revealed several new strategies in recruitment and retention, as well as verified past strategies. Suggestions consistent with previous research includes: Provision of incentives such as gas cards, childcare and dinner to minimize the costs and eliminate barriers. Utilization of community and partnering agencies, such as schools, counseling centers, and family service agencies, as important referral sources. Looking �in-house� � recruiting current participants of other programs offered by the organization.

27. Summary Novel suggestions which emerged from this study included: Actively encouraging former participants to invite friends and family to attend the course. Emphasizing the interests and motivations of the targeted group: family time, help with their (step)children, and family unity. Advertising the common stepfamily challenges and the promise of helpful tips and solutions. Marketing in the language of the target population and in localized areas where the target population will see the advertising. Making incentives meaningful-to adults and for the children. Building a trusting facilitator/family relationship (thank you cards, phone calls, and reminders). Including the entire family unit in the program.

28. Conclusion Although there have been suggestions in the literature for strategies that influence recruitment and retention of low-income stepfamilies (e.g. Adler-Baeder & Higginbotham, 2004; Robertson et al., 2006) there have been few published studies that document effective strategies. The strategies explicated here are presented to the field for additional exploration and validation, particularly with more diverse samples, with the hope of moving closer towards best practices for stepfamily MRE.

29. Questions?