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* Due to resource limitations, this report has not been professionally edited.

Goodwill Life Guides program 2017 Evaluation Report Initial Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting

Submitted by: Kelly Robertson & Lyssa Becho

Western Michigan University 1903 W. Michigan Avenue

Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5237 (269) 387-5919

[email protected]

July 31, 2017

mailto:[email protected]

Goodwill Industries of Southwest Michigan Life Guides Program

2017 Report

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Table of Contents Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 2

Evaluation Methods .................................................................................................................... 4

Results .......................................................................................................................................... 5

Strengths Identified by Participants .................................................................................... 5

Participants’ Suggestions for Improvement........................................................................ 9

Impact on Self-sufficiency ................................................................................................... 11

Self-Sufficiency Overview ............................................................................................... 12

Employment ........................................................................................................... 13

Income ..................................................................................................................... 15

Housing .................................................................................................................... 17

Adult Education ..................................................................................................... 19

Family & Social Network ...................................................................................... 21

Parenting Skills ................................................................................................... 23

Mental Health ...................................................................................................... 25

Child Education ..................................................................................................... 27

Attributable Effects ........................................................................................................ 29

Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 30

Limitations & Lessons learned ................................................................................................. 31

Appendix A: Life Guides Self-Sufficiency Matrix ................................................................... 32

Appendix B: Life Guides Focus Group Protocol ......................................................................... 34

Appendix c: Life Guides Interview Protocol ............................................................................ 36


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Executive Summary Western Michigan University’s Evaluation Center was contracted to collect, analyze, and report on data

for Goodwill Industries of Southwest Michigan’s Life Guides Program.

Strengths Identified by Participants

Strengths of the Life Guides Program most commonly noted by participants centered on the close and

trusting relationships built between staff and participants. Staff are regarded as helpful, forgiving, non-

judgmental, and having treated participants like family. The emotional support, encouragement, and

guidance provided by program staff was reported to be instrumental to participants’ progress and an

invaluable addition to their lives.

Participants’ Suggestions for Improvement

Most participant suggestions for program improvement focused primarily on ways to facilitate

communication and networking among participants. Suggestions included creation of a participant

contact list; organization of social events for adults, along with free childcare; and creation of a newsletter

and/or private Facebook group for participants. Suggestions also focused on improvements to meetings

such as automatic meeting reminders and the option for Kalamazoo participants to meet with their life

guides in their homes—as is done with the Allegan group.

Impact on self-sufficiency

Family self-sufficiency was measured using the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix (see Appendix A). This

report focuses on eight of the 18 domains: Housing, Employment, Income, Adult Education, Family and

Social, Parenting, Mental Health, and Children’s Education. Statistically significant changes in families’ self-

sufficiency levels were observed as it relates to employment, income, housing, and adult education.

Significant changes were not observed for family & social networks, parenting skills, or mental health—

likely because it is difficult for participants to focus on these areas when struggling to meet basic needs—

as well as the fact they are difficult concepts to measure. Increased length of participation in the program

is positively associated with improvements in employment, income, and adult education, suggesting the

Life Guide Program has impacted these changes and not external factors. The program was successful at

reaching the target of getting 80% of families to reach self-sufficiency levels of safe or above as it relates

to employment, housing, adult education, parenting, and mental health.

Conclusions

✓ Participants have demonstrated positive progress towards self-sufficiency.

✓ The trust established between life guides and families has allowed for meaningful change.

✓ The program’s 20-year commitment, flexible structure, and tailored and multidimensional

approach is a strength of the program, that evidence suggests will lead to long-term change.

✓ Program success is dependent on maintaining dedicated and highly capable staff.


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INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Life Guides Program was established in 2012 to assist families living in poverty to overcome barriers

to self-sufficiency. Modeled on the Harlem Children’s Zone, the Life Guides Program works with families

with young children (0-3 years of age) in Kalamazoo and Allegan counties over a 20-year period. Life guides

meet with families individually and as a group monthly. Individual meetings focus on goal setting and

connecting families to resources. Group meetings are places where participants can share knowledge and

skills to overcome obstacles to self-sufficiency, as well as build a social network of trust and support.

The Life Guides Program recognizes that to break barriers erected by generational poverty and systemic

inequities environmental effects of poverty must be addressed first. Therefore, the Life Guides Program

focuses on helping families overcome these interconnected barriers to self-sufficiency at the individual,

family, and outcomes level. Life guides help families discuss options, consequences, and opportunities to

working towards their individual goals and addressing the unique needs of each family.

ABOUT THE EVALUATION

Goodwill Industries of Southwest Michigan contracted with Western Michigan University’s Evaluation

Center to analyze the Life Guides Program’s existing quantitative data, as well as to collect and analyze

additional qualitative data for both children and adults. This evaluation project was the second step

towards developing the Life Guides Program’s evaluation capacity. It was well-known that the conclusions

of this evaluation would have significant limitations resulting time and resource constraints of the

evaluation and quality and quantity of the Life Guides Program’s existing data. Available data was limited

to that which was already collected by program staff as of spring/summer 2017. For example, data on

child educational attainment is limited since data is not yet available on the program target children (aged

0-3 years at time of program entry) as these children are not yet in grade school. Data regarding self-

sufficiency levels was collected between 2012 and 2016 using a self-sufficiency matrix based on the

Arizona Self-Sufficiency matrix. This instrument was used to rate families’ level of self-sufficiency in 18

domains on a five-point scale (in-crisis; at-risk; safe; stable; thriving). The full instrument can be found in

Appendix A. It should be noted that this instrument will not be used to assess self-sufficiency for the

program in the future — another matrix, more responsive to the project context, has been developed.

The purposes of this evaluation was to 1) analyze existing quantitative data—despite pre-identified

limitations—and to collect additional qualitative data to see what can be learned about program impacts

thus far; and 2) to get an in-depth understanding of the limitations of the current data collection practices

to inform future evaluation capacity development efforts.

ABOUT THIS REPORT This report is organized into evaluation methods, results, conclusions, and limitations and lessons learned.

Results are presented in three sections: Program strengths, participants’ suggestions from improvements,

and impact on self-sufficiency.


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Evaluation Methods An overview of data collection methods is provided in the table below. Additional details about analysis of self-sufficiency ratings are included in the results section for each domain of self-sufficiency examined.

Data

Collection

Methods

Inform Report Sections Data Sources Instrument Notes

Focus

Groups

1. Program Strengths

2. Participants’ Suggestions

for Improvement

3. Impact on Self-Sufficiency

Life Guides

participants that

attended monthly

group meetings in

May and June

2017

Appendix B

The evaluation team attended one monthly meeting in both

Allegan and Kalamazoo to observe and familiar ourselves

with the group. At the second set of group meetings, the

evaluation team conducted 60-minute focus groups.

Participants in Allegan were split into two groups and those

in Kalamazoo were split into three groups.

Interviews



for Improvement


Sample of

participants

available to meet

at Goodwill in

June 2017

Appendix C

Interviewees with the most and least change based on the

Arizona Self-Sufficiency matrix were identified. The

evaluation team tried to conduct 8 interviews but due to

scheduling conflicts, only 6 were conducted. Interviews

lasted approximately 60 minutes.

Goodwill

Databases



for Improvement


Arizona Self-

Sufficiency ratings

records 2013-

2017

Appendix A

Given time constraints, data for 8 of the 18 domains were

analyzed: employment, income, housing, adult education,

family & social relations, parenting skills, and mental health.

Impact on Self-Sufficiency/

Children’s Education

Program records

of report card

grades 2014-Fall

2017

None

While, limited, available grade data was analyzed. Moving

forward data collection should be expanded related to

collection of grade data, attendance, standardized test

scores, extracurricular involvement, and educational

measures for children 0-3. (Also see Limitations and Lessons

Learned for more details on data constraints).


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Results

Strengths Identified by Participants All participants indicated satisfaction with the Life Guides Program. A summary of the most prominent

themes that emerged from participants’ stories are presented, along with testimony from the participants

themselves.

Program Approach

The fact that the Life Guides Program is a long-term

commitment, not tightly restrained by funding

requirements, was observed to benefit participants.

One participant noted “you don’t have to jump

through hoops to get what you need.” Likewise,

participants seemed to appreciate the Life Guides

Program’s approach which acknowledges the interconnectedness of barriers out of poverty. One

participant stated, “there’s nothing [program staff] don’t do.” The program’s ability to connect

families with community resources and/or cover emergency costs was reported as invaluable.

“When I’m stuck and I have no way out, they help a great amount. They always give me somewhere to

start when it’s time to get myself back together.” Another participant said,

“Four and a half years later, the only program that’s still there for me is Life Guides.

Which is what they’re built for, which is amazing…[The Life Guides Program is] the

greatest thing ever. It’s the greatest thing I could have hoped for in my life.”

Life Guides Staff

Staff were the most frequently mentioned strengths of the Life Guides Program. Since interaction

and discussion with staff comprise the essence of the Life Guides Program, strengths of the program and

staff are inherently intertwined. Program staff were said to be an invaluable part of the program and

addition to the participant’s lives. Many participants described their bond with staff as something that

went beyond a traditional “caseworker/client” relationship, using words such as friendship, family, and

love. For example, one participant added, “another great strength about this is, that not only are [the

guides] there for us but they share their trials, tribulations, their joys, their successes…it’s not just like

we’re a job to them.” In general, staff were described as “wonderful people,” “helpful,” and “resourceful.”

Common themes used to describe the staff and the environment of the Life Guides Program

included providing a safe space, forgiving, non-judgmental, and treat you like family. One

participant said, it is “good to have somebody level headed who I believe has my best interests at heart.

I’ve come a long way in four years, let alone my family. I don’t think we would be where we were if it wasn’t for this program.

“

“


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Sometimes that’s hard to come by.” More specific strengths of staff are described in this section.

Additional stories of how staff impacted participants are interwoven throughout the report.

As a related noted, when participants were asked what they would do if they had to have a new guide

most said something to the effect of, “I’d probably would quit.” “I don’t want to deal with

somebody else. Cause they is like family and I’d be ready to go find [my life guide] at her house and be

like ‘What happened?’” One of the original participants that had to change guides after a few months

described the experience as, “almost like a divorce.” Participants said it would be too hard to

open-up and rebuild a relationship with someone new.

Emotional Support

The emotional support provided by the life guides was one of the most salient themes

that emerged. As it relates to the life guides, one participant said it was nice to have “just

somebody who’s proud of you. Any little thing, I call [my life guide] …And I know that she’s

genuinely happy for me. And, it’s just kind of cool to have that support or somebody to fall back

and brainstorm with you.” Another participant said the following about her guide, “she’s so

positive and cheerful that it helps just to perk you up even a little bit…you call her crying and then

you’re like laughing.” Participants often reported their guide is the first person they call when they

achieve significant milestones. For example, one participant with dyslexia said that getting her

chauffer’s license was challenging because there is a large written section and when she got the

license “I didn’t call my husband, I called [my life guide].”

The encouragement staff provide participants was described to be especially helpful since many

participants join the program when experiencing some sort of crisis. Further, many participants

reported feeling overwhelmed at times by the barriers they were facing; they described

experiences trying to navigate community resources in the past as stressful and

defeating. When asked about the greatest strength of the program, one participant responded,

“I think emotionally, like the resources, I feel like some of us have gotten torn down and so

when [program staff] give some of these resources that we have to do on our own, they

got our backs.” In terms of taking steps to improve their condition, many participants reported

initially feeling sentiments of dread such as, “I’ve got to go out and do this again? Really? I already

feel like crap.” The encouragement from guides was described as helping participants overcome

these mental barriers. For example, one participant said that someone in the Life Guides

Program is, “always going ‘you got this. you can do this.’” She commented, “I swear, it’s

the only reason I could handle everything I did.”

Similarly, participants found the reassurance staff provide to be helpful when trying to plan

courses of action. One participant described their guide as the voice of reassurance by telling

them, “‘Yes, you’re doing it right. Even though your ex is saying its wrong, you’re doing it right,

keep doing it…’ Just sometimes you need somebody to say ‘Hey, you’re doing it right.’”


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Participants felt further encouraged when they update their guides on their progress and are met

with excitement that helps to validate and motivate them moving forward. Participants did

point out that even though their guides help them get access to opportunities they also

are always “making sure that you do this on your own. Because eventually you have

to.”

Staff have gone above and beyond to support not only immediate participants, but also their

family members, acknowledging it is difficult for participants to succeed when those around them

are struggling. One participant said her older sister “needed a job and needed help trying to get

her credit. I called [my life guide] and told her I had a sister that was in need of help. She had got

a job here.” One participant told the story of how the program director helped her daughter, a

demonstration of the staffs’ dedication to the families.

I have a 24-year-old daughter who has an apartment, struggling with financial. Well

anyway she was gonna get an eviction notice and get kicked out like now. And we just

happened to walk in to [the director’s] office unannounced, she was on a way to a meeting

and we just said, “Hey what do we do this is what’s going on.” She stopped what she was

doing, made some phone calls, sent us up to [Housing Resources Inc.]…she gave her time

you know, she you know cancelled her meetings.

The simple act of actively making time for participants, not just treating participants as part of

their job was a frequent theme mentioned by many participants. Participating families

repeatedly stated their trust and appreciation for all members of the Life Guides Program’s staff.

Coaching AND Problem Solving

Life guides work with participants to assess their current situations and where they’d like to be in

the future, as well as helping them strategize and cope with emerging issues. When it comes to

helping participants find out how to go about something, one individual said, “if [the life guides]

don’t know the answer they will find it. I mean [my life guide] will go down the courthouse, I mean

whatever you need to do to figure it out.” Participants reported having someone walk them

through what they need to do, as immensely helpful. One participant explained, “Trying to get my

credit right, I’m just like I don’t know where to start. I could probably figure it out, but just the

idea of figuring it out overwhelms me. So I’m just like ‘oh I’m not gonna do it.’” Having someone

there to turn to, that can outline the steps you need to take, makes addressing the stress of having

to deal with barriers easier. It also helps teach participants how to navigate resources and

builds their confidence in their own abilities to navigate situations in the future. Multiple

participants recounted situations where they felt stuck in the moment, and the guides help pull

them out of and on to the path of action. “I can’t tell you how many times [my life guide] has

looked at us and said, okay that sucked, now what are you going to do about it?” Guides help

participants walk through their decision making and evaluate their plans. One participant

described it this way:


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Somedays I’ll be like ‘I’m going to quit my job!’ and She’ll come back with ‘well, you can quit your job, but how are you going to pay rent?’… She never tells me what to do, but she always brings me back to reality in her own way. She says, ‘you can quit, but remember all the stuff to do’ and I’m like ‘yeah…. I don’t want to go back to that’. I appreciate that support.

Monthly Meetings

The Life Guides Program holds monthly meetings for participants—one meeting for Allegan participants

and another for Kalamazoo participants. Most participants reported looking forward to the monthly

meetings. At each meeting, the adults and the children meet separately. Adults reported that having

dinner served at the meeting to be a huge benefit and stress reliever. Several participants described

the meeting as an emotional outlet and ‘pick-me-up.’ One of the husbands said his wife “can come

home ready to pull her hair out, go to the meeting, come home and she’s smiling”—seeing this eventually

encouraged him to attend as well. Most participants said their children loved the meetings which often

involve both educational activities and play time for the kids. Many of the kids, frequently ask if today is

the day of the meeting: “Is this the Wednesday that we’re going?” One mom said she doesn’t tell her

older kids about the meeting until right before they leave because they “flip out…they get so excited.”

Family Fieldtrips

The Life Guides Program organizes family field trips several times a year. The program often pays the

entire or a substantial portion of the cost for these outings. Over the years the group has traveled to the

Grand Rapids Zoo, Battle Creek Zoo, Legoland in Auburn Hills, Sea Life Aquarium, Growlers baseball game,

Gull Meadows Farms, Kalamazoo Nature Center, and Markin Glen Park. Participants frequently noted

these fieldtrips as one of the strengths of the program because of the quality family time and

fact that they would not have been able to afford such experiences without the program. A new

family reported that they are looking forward to the family field trips because, “that’s going to give us a

lot of family time, otherwise we don’t get to go out as a family a lot.”


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Participants’ Suggestions for

Improvement The following is a list of ideas suggested by participants to improve the Life Guides Program.

Facilitate communication and Networking Among Adults

Suggestions about socialization predominantly came from participants in Kalamazoo. The Kalamazoo

group is larger and despite many individuals indicating interest in socializing with other participants it

seems like it has not happened to the same extent as it has in Allegan. A list of the suggestions is presented

as follows:

• Create a participant contact list.

• Encourage and promote interactions such as play dates for the children or socializing for the

adults (e.g., bowling, bonfires).

• Provide free childcare once a month to allow adults to socialize.

• Raffle off gift certificates to couples to encourage them to spend time together.

• Create a private Facebook page and encourage participants in both counties to support each other

and disseminate information about opportunities or resources via this platform.

Monthly Group and Individual Meetings

Participants had several suggestions related to the monthly group meetings and individual meetings with

life guides that are listed below.

• Create a newsletter or post to Facebook about upcoming events and opportunities (e.g., summer

camps/places that are hiring). One participant explained, “sometimes I feel like the meetings get

a little overwhelming because when there are a lot of people it seems like it’s hard to get

information.”

• Send automatic meeting reminders via text and/or Facebook.

• Hold monthly meetings with life guides in Kalamazoo participants’ homes, not at Goodwill.

• Cover topics during monthly meetings such as parenting techniques, budgeting (in general),

budgeting for your children’s education long-term, college application process/so parents can

help kids, and child safety in public (e.g., how to avoid abduction).

• Create report cards for adults to track progress in self-sufficiency and provide more personal

constructive criticism.

• Have participants make formal annual goals that are revisited throughout the year — participants

reported doing this in the past and thought it would still be useful to increase personal

accountability.

• Extend length of group meetings because “I don’t feel like we have enough time to get everything

out.”


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• Have each group make ground rules for meetings.

• Offer two meetings for the Kalamazoo group. This was purposed by some in terms of logistics but

others opposed this idea because they wanted to see everyone at once.

• Change the group meeting day because Wednesday is a day of worship for some participants.

Prioritize “Non-squeaky” Wheels and Help Them Identify Needs

When talking about her experience with the Life Guides Program overall, one participant said they felt left

out sometimes.

Sometimes I feel like I get pushed by the wayside because I’m not in as much need…I could use

some help but I’m not asked or talked to. I’m one of those that don’t ask for help. Sometimes we

hint we need help but not coming out and asking.

Allow Participants to Nominate New Members

One participant suggested that participants should be able to nominate new members since they are likely

to come in to contact with people in need in their families and neighborhoods.

Create ATTENDANCE Requirements

Two participants suggested creating program requirements such as you need to attend six out of 12

meetings each year. Such requirements would encourage families to attend more and “not just show up

at Christmas.”

Offer Alternative Therapies

One participant suggested that alternative therapies should be included such as meditation, yoga, and

Pilates.

Add More Staff

Participants suggested that more staff need to be added if the number of families continues to grow.

Several participants pointed out that the existing families are growing overtime, as they add children to

their families.


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Impact on Self-sufficiency For the purposes of this report, self-sufficiency is reported using eight of the 18 domains in the Arizona

Self-Sufficiency Matrix: Housing, Employment, Income, Adult Education, Family and Social, Parenting,

Mental Health, and Children’s Education.

First, a brief overview of the Life Guides Program’s impact on families’ self-sufficiency level is presented.

It is important to note that individuals’ ability to improve their levels of self-sufficiency may be

impacted by the Life Guides Program but is also impacted by the local context. For example,

it’s difficult to increase income if good paying jobs are not available in the community.

Second, a more detailed presentation of results for each of the eight domains follows. For each of the

domains, there is a one-page summary of quantitative results and another one-page summary of

qualitative results. The summary of quantitative self-sufficiency ratings details the degree to which

changes in self-sufficiency were observed for each domain and the degree to which the program reached

its goal of helping get at least 80% of participants to achieve a level of safe or above. The summary of

qualitative findings includes a description of overall themes observed and/or narrative stories detailing

how the Life Guides Program impacted families. Note that pseudonyms have been used to protect the

identify of participants. The Life Guides Program takes a multifaceted approach, acknowledging that

needs related to housing, employment, education, and the rest are all interrelated. Therefore, the

narrative stories presented for each domain described how families experienced change in the specific

domain as well as across other interrelated domains where possible.


2017 Report

1 Statistical significance was determined using the Wilcoxon signed rank test with the = 0.05 level. This test is used for ordinal data to determine whether there were significant changes in median scores over time. 2 For the purposes of this program, this instrument has demonstrated to be somewhat unreliable and inconsistent across families and domains. 12

Self-Sufficiency Overview The Life Guides Program strives to coach and support families to increase their self-sufficiency across several domains. The data presented reflects self-sufficiency scores for participating families based on a self-sufficiency instrument2 used by the program from 2012–2016. The instrument and definitions for each self-sufficiency status can be found in Appendix A. Families are rated on a scale from (1) In Crisis, (2) At Risk, (3) Safe, (4) Stable, and (5) Thriving. The Life Guides Program aims to have families at or above Safe.

Positive Change

Negative Change No Change

Was the change significant?1

Started

Above Safe Now Above

Safe Was the goal

achieved?

Employment 62% 3% 34%

21% 83%

Income 55% 3% 41%

21% 59%

Housing 31% 10% 59%

66% 83%

Education 24% 3% 72%

83% 86%

FAMILY & SOCIAL 41% 10% 48%

62% 75%

Parenting 17% 17% 66%

76% 93%

Mental Health 31% 17% 52%

76% 86%

Was there a significant change in families’ self-sufficiency level?

Did the Life Guides Program achieve its goal of having 80% of families at Safe?


2017 Report

1 Limitation: This instrument has demonstrated to be somewhat unreliable and inconsistent across families and domains and will not be used for analysis in the future. 2 Median is a the most appropriate measure of central tendency for ordinal data. 3 Statistical significance measured at the = 0.05 level using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. 4 Different sample sizes reflect families entering the program at different times. 13

Employment

Increasing stable and adequate employment is a key tenant of Goodwill Industries of Southwest Michigan,

and as such is reflected in the outcomes of the Life Guides Program. The data presented reflects self-

sufficiency scores for participating families based on an instrument modified from the Arizona Self-

Sufficiency Matrix.1 The instrument and definitions for each self-sufficiency status can be found in

Appendix A.

CHANGE IN STATUS

Since joining the Life Guides Program, 96% of families’ have been able to improve or maintain their

employment status.

62% improved

34% maintained

3% worsened

The median2 employment situation of participating families has improved from In Crisis to Safe. After

three years in the program, the median Employment status has reached the Life Guides Program’s target

of Safe or above. This change in median Employment status from baseline to year 3 is statistically

significant2, indicating the program had an impact on Employment.

* Change is statistically significant at the = 0.05 level using the Wilcoxon signed rank test.

REACHED TARGET OF SAFE The Life Guides Program seeks to help all families achieve an Employment status of Safe or above. Twenty-

one percent (21%) of participating families started the program at or above Safe in Employment. As of

June 2016, 69% of families are now at or above Safe in Employment.

48% increase in number of families at or above Safe in Employment

In crisis At risk Safe Stable Thriving

Baseline 59% 21% 21% 0% 0%

Endline 14% 17% 59% 3% 7%

Change -45% -4% 38% 3% 7%

Self

-Su

ffic

ien

cy S

tatu

s

*

4


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Employment

HOW THE LIFE GUIDES PROGRAM HELPED

The Life Guides Program helps participants overcome basic employment barriers by providing assistance

in developing resumes; identifying job opportunities; holding mock interviews; and providing attire for

interviews and work (e.g., steel-toed boots). Fellow participants also assisted one another in securing

employment—for example one participant said,

Through participating in [the Life Guides Program], I got a new job through another participant

and I got another new job working with another participant’s mom. Because of these jobs, I’ve

been able to get my driver’s licenses back and a new vehicle. I’ve also gone back to school.

The Life Guides Program also helped participants overcome more substantial barriers to employment,

such as lack of work experience, legal barriers, or educational barriers. To help participants gain work

experience, life guides connected participants with volunteer or paid employment opportunities. Life

guides helped several individuals to gain employment and control over their lives after lengthy gaps in

employment due to abusive relationships – allowing them to build a happier, healthier, and more stable

lives for their children.

Anderson Family

Susan and Tony Anderson were one of the first families to join the Life Guides Program in 2012. With the

support of the Life Guides Program, the Anderson family overcame major employment and legal barriers;

and for the first time, the family is on a stable path towards self-sufficiency. When Tony and Susan got

married a few years prior to joining the program, Tony tried to give up life as a “street boy, selling drugs”

but eventually got sucked back into old habits. In 2015, Tony was faced with the possibility of an 18-month

prison sentence. Program staff attended the court hearings and wrote letters to the judge to attest to

Tony’s dedication to his family and the program. (The Andersons have attended almost every monthly

group meeting for the past 5 years.) Tony’s sentence was reduced from 18-months in state prison to 6-

months at the county jail. The judge announced that he reduced Tony’s sentence because of his efforts to

better himself and his family through participation in the Life Guides Program. Being placed in the county

jail made it possible for Tony to have visits with this family on weekends and because of good behavior,

Tony was released from jail after only 3-months. Having a criminal record and no high school diploma

makes it difficult to find employment after being released from jail; however, Tony’s life guide helped

secure him a full-time position, where he has been employed for almost one year. When Susan joined the

Life Guides Program, she had no work experience and no high school diploma. To build up her resume,

Susan’s life guide arranged for her to volunteer at a Goodwill retail store. This experience helped Susan

obtain a full-time position as a housekeeper at a local hotel—a position she has maintained for over a

year. While both Susan and Tony have made efforts to obtain their GED they have been unable to

complete the process due to their work schedules. Susan is currently looking for affordable classes offered

at night. Her goal is to get her GED within the next four years, before her eldest graduates from high

school, to set a good example for her kids.


2017 Report


Income

Sustainable financial capital inevitably comes down to a family’s current and sustained income. The data

presented reflects self-sufficiency scores for participating families based on an instrument modified from

the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix.1 The instrument and definitions for each self-sufficiency status can be

found in Appendix A.

CHANGE IN STATUS

Since joining the Life Guides Program, 58% of families’ Income status remained the same or improved.

55% improved

3% maintained

41% worsened

The median2 Income situation of participating families has improved from At risk to Safe. Families

continued to maintain this Safe status after one year in the program. This change in median Income status

from baseline to year 3 is statistically significant3, indicating the program had an impact on Income.


CHANGE IN STATUS

The Life Guides Program seeks to help all families achieve an Income status of Safe or above. Twenty-one

percent (21%) of participating families started the program at or above Safe in Income. As of June 2016,

59% of families are now at or above Safe in Income.

38% increase in number of families at or above Safe in Income


Baseline 34% 45% 21% 0% 0%

Endline 10% 31% 45% 14% 0%

Change -24% -14% 24% 14% 0%

Self

-Su

ffic

ien

cy S

tatu

s

*

4


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Income HOW THE LIFE GUIDES PROGRAM HELPED

smith Family

Julie and Ted Smith have participated in the Life Guides Program for four years. When Julie started the

Life Guides Program, she had two part-time jobs and no room for advancement. To improve her economic

situation, the Life Guides Program paid for Julie to become a certified bartender. Afterwards Julie was

able to secure a management position at a bar. For a while, the Smith family was stable with both Julie

and Ted bringing in a steady paycheck. However, there was a change in management at the bar and Julie

lost her job. Julie has been searching for a new job for the past year. While she is glad the situation gave

her time to spend with her family, it did not do well for their finances. Julie credits her life guide and the

support of fellow participants for getting her through a lot of the tough spots. The Smith family is only one

example of the fluctuation in employment and income experienced by participating families. Despite

these obstacles, over the past three years, Julie has improved her credit score from a 494 to a 709 and

says she would never have figured out how to improve her credit without the support of the Life Guides

Program. Julie says that financially she’s “doing pretty good, I got a nice truck that I drive and you know,

things are good.” Julie has been passing on her financial wisdom on to her 20-something nephew that is

staying with the family. She holds formal financial planning meetings with him because she is determined

to set her nephew up for success and not have him make the same mistakes.

Friedman Family

Becky Friedman, said that the Life Guides Program is “so big on making you self-sufficient. And if you really

truly listen to what they’re saying and do what they’re trying to tell you, you’re gonna succeed.” Becky

considers herself a success story since she’s now, “proudly off [assistance from] DHS.” Becky attributes

her success to the strategizing and specific steps her life guide has helped her identify. Becky said when

faced with a new challenge she turns to her life guide and asks, “‘What do I do?’ and it always ends up

working out.” She said she’s found her life guide’s advice on simple to complex things such as taxes helpful

in her journey towards becoming more self-sufficient.


2017 Report


Housing

Adequate, safe, and affordable housing is a foundational part of a family’s ability to become self-sufficient.

The data presented reflects self-sufficiency scores for participating families based on an instrument

modified from the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix.1 The instrument and definitions for each self-sufficiency

status can be found in Appendix A.

CHANGE IN STATUS

Since joining the Life Guides Program, 90% of families’ Housing status remained the same or improved.

31% improved

59% maintained

10% worsened

The median2 housing situation of participating families has improved from Safe to Stable. Families

continued to maintain this Stable status after one year in the program. This change in median Housing

status from baseline to year 3 is statistically significant3, indicating the program had an impact on Housing.


REACHED TARGET OF SAFE

The Life Guides Program seeks to help all families achieve a Housing status of Safe or above. Sixty-six

percent (66%) of participating families started the program at or above Safe in Housing. As of June 2016,

83% of families are now at or above Safe in Housing.

17% increase in number of families at or above Safe in Housing


Baseline 17% 17% 14% 28% 24%

Endline 3% 14% 14% 28% 41%

Change -14% -3% 0% 0% 17%

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Housing


Miller Family

When Christina Miller joined the program, she was in an abusive relationship, living with the father of her

children. “I hadn’t worked for five years. I didn’t know how to drive, I was basically under his foot. So if he

said ‘we’re moving today,’ we’re moving.” Her life guide helped her identify the first step in getting out of

the relationship was getting a job. Christina was connected with a job at Goodwill, where she has been

employed for over two years. Because Christina has a felony and several evictions, she said, “I was kind of

stuck, it was hard for me to get my own place. With the help of Goodwill…I was able to pay off my evictions

and they hooked me up with [a housing assistance program]”. Having a place of her own, where she is

safe from her abuser, is extremely important to her. “It’s mine. And I’m the only one who has a key.”

Christina said she used to keep her belongings in trash bags because she moved so frequently there was

“no need to unpack everything…because I don’t know if I can pay the rent.” Since receiving housing

assistance, Christina reported that she and her family have been “putting pictures on the walls…hanging

up clothes... buying a dresser—like to me that’s awesome.” Christina describes her current situation as

“amazing.” “I have my driver’s license now, I have a car, I have car insurance. I’ve been at my job for two

years. I’ve been in my apartment for two years. Everything’s in my name. I don’t owe anybody. My credit

score has improved—I can almost buy a house…It’s so nice, and my kids see my confidence…I’m proud of

myself.” Going forward Christina plans on working to get her felony expunged, further improving her

credit, and obtaining a higher paying job—she has been working with a job coach at Goodwill because

“minimum wage is not cutting it.”

James Family

Just before joining the Life Guides Program, Lauren James moved into a rental home that was soon after

condemned. After moving in, sewage backed up into the basement which the landlord refused to fix

leading to the house being condemned. The landlord refused to return Lauren’s rent and security deposit.

She and her children found themselves homeless living in a friend’s basement. Lauren’s life guide was able

to help get her into a new rental home. The Life Guides Program also helped Lauren secure funding to

support the completion of her bachelor’s degree and improve her credit; despite the fact “it’s still not

great,” she continues to keep working at it. Lauren’s life guide also helped get her kindergartener the

supported he needed at school. “It’s just nice to have other people to talk to and [that you can] say ‘hey

this is an issue… I’ve never dealt with it before do you have any suggestions.’ [My life guide] many times

has been like, ‘I have no idea, but I’ll find out.’ And that, it’s a big relief.” Lauren says because of that

support, her son, who is now in first grade, is reading at a fourth-grade level. Lauren appreciates that the

Life Guides Program “understands everything is interconnected” and that “there’s nothing they don’t do.”

Lauren loves having her life guide to turn to. She feels like the Life Guides Program is a “judgement free”

zone and feels more comfortable talking to her life guide about her struggles than her own family.


2017 Report

1 Limitation: This instrument has demonstrated to be somewhat unreliable and inconsistent across families and domains and will not be used for analysis in the future. 2 Median is a the most appropriate measure of central tendency for ordinal data. 3 Statistical significance measured at the = 0.05 level using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. 4 Different sample sizes reflect families entering the program at different times.

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Adult Education

One pathway to improve self-sufficiency is to ensure adequate education for the heads of household. The

data presented reflects self-sufficiency scores for Life Guides families based on an instrument modified

from the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix.1 The instrument and definitions for each self-sufficiency status

can be found in Appendix A.

CHANGE IN STATUS

Since joining the Life Guides Program, 96% of families’ Adult Education status remained the same or

improved.

24% improved

72% maintained

2% worsened

The median2 Adult Education situation of participating families has remained constant at Stable. Families

continued to maintain this Stable status after one year in the program. The change in median Adult

Education self-sufficiency status was not statistically significant.3


The Life Guides Program seeks to help all families achieve an Adult Education status of Safe or above.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of participating families started the program at or above Safe in Adult

Education. As of June 2016, 86% of families are now at or above Safe in Adult Education.

3% increase in number of families at or above Safe in Adult Education


Baseline 10% 7% 24% 52% 7%

Endline 7% 7% 14% 62% 10%

Change -3% 0% -10% 10% 3%

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Adult Education


Clements Family

Georgina and Jeff Clements have participated in the Life Guides Program for four years. Georgina recently

became a licensed practical nurse (LPN) and is now working towards becoming a registered nurse (RN). “I

put this face on and I work this job and nobody knows the struggle that I have at home. Whatever it may

be, like trying to pay for school.” Georgina says that her life guide was able to find her grants to help pay

for her schooling which she would have been unable to do on her own. “School is expensive, like finding

grants I wouldn’t have known where to have gone. If there wasn’t [the Life Guides Program’s] networking

system I wouldn’t be where I am, definitely. I’ve used it to help with my school a lot…” Georgina says

getting access to the funding to pay for school has been really helpful because the books/materials for

nursing, as well as the tuition, are really expensive. Georgina is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa, an honor

society that requires members to have a 3.5 or above, which provided her with funding to purchase study

guides.

Johnson Family

When Emily Johnson joined the Life Guides Program in 2013, she and her three children were homeless.

The day she joined the Life Guides Program, she was offered a job at Goodwill and was informed about

an open room at the Elanor House, an emergency shelter. With time, the Life Guides Program helped her

locate a house to rent, more appropriate to her family size. During Emily’s fifth pregnancy, she was put

on bedrest and the Life Guides Program helped get her into Housing Resources Inc.’s Seimer Program to

help her maintain housing. Emily was working as a certified nursing assistant (CNA), but found the job too

physically demanding; she credits the Life Guides Program for helping her find another career path. Her

life guide helped her find a grant that will allow her to complete a phlebotomy program starting in the

fall. Her life guide also helped her apply for a food service job at a major hospital in the area to put her in

a good position for future employment. Even though the local hospital does not require new hires to have

a Phlebotomy certificate, Emily wants to obtain a certificate to give her more opportunities in the future.

When asked about her life guide, Emily says, “I don’t even call her my worker, I call her my friend. Like,

it’s her job, but she my friend. She check on me on vacation! She check on me on the weekends… [my life

guide] is always there for me. She’s always proud of me, even when I’m messing up.” Emily’s proud of

how she has handled her struggles. “My mom tells me ‘you kids just happy. They don’t know there’s

nothing going on with you’. I gotta say, I applaud myself on that.”


2017 Report


Family & Social Network

Social capital—building a supportive network of family and friends—is important to achieving self-

sufficiency. The data presented reflects self-sufficiency scores for participating families based on an

instrument modified from the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix.1 The instrument and definitions for each

self-sufficiency status can be found in Appendix A.

CHANGE IN STATUS

Since joining the Life Guides Program, 89% of families’ Social Network status remained the same or

improved.

41% improved

48% maintained

10% worsened

The median2 level of social networks for participating families remained constant at Safe, then trending

upwards after year three. Although, the change in families’ Social Networks status was not statistically

significant.3


The Life Guides Program seeks to help all families achieve a Social Network status of Safe or above. Sixty-

two percent (62%) of participating families started the program at or above Safe in Social Network. As of

June 2016, 75% of families are now at or above Safe in Social Network.

13% increase in number of families at or above Safe in Social Network


Baseline 3% 34% 31% 28% 3%

Endline 0% 24% 34% 38% 3%

Change -3% -10% 3% 10% 0%

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Family & Social Network


Families in both the Allegan and Kalamazoo groups reported benefiting from expansion of their social

network as a result of participating in the Life Guides Program. A sense of support and comradery was

reported to be almost immediate. For example, one new participant said,

the first meeting I came to, I told everyone that I was expecting my third child and I didn’t tell

anyone else except for my mom…and everyone was super happy. I didn’t feel judged. I’m 19 and

I’m about to have my third kid, like that’s, that’s a lot.

The group dynamics were described to be invaluable in terms of friendship and connections to resources

but also something inspirational and comforting.

It’s encouraging, it’s not just a resource thing, it’s not just a network of friends…it’s encouraging

because we all look at each other, watch each other’s struggles, and know and acknowledge what

we’re going through but it motivates…it’s encouraging. It’s an example. It shows proof that you

know, through consistent busting your butt it can be done.

Another participant noted the following: “It makes me feel better to know that other people have been

through some things that are similar to ours… Just other people knowing what you’re going through…and

they were able to get back on they feet, it kind makes you feel like you’re not alone.”

The degree to which participants reported relying on one another was greater among participants in

Allegan—likely due to the smaller group size and thus, their close-knit nature. For example, when one of

the Allegan participants got into an accident, a fellow

participant drove her to work even though it was completely

out of her way. The Allegan group also created a private

Facebook page to keep in touch and share information about

resources and opportunities.

Participants reported a family like atmosphere among the group. “This group is more than just a group,

it’s a family.” In relation to the monthly meetings, “in our family…think we going to a family gathering.”

Another participant expanded on this by saying, “The support is phenomenal. I mean, it’s like with family

you can sit there and make mistakes and its ok.” “I found a network of people that I can trust to always

help me find what’s gonna work best for me but they don’t care whether they’re gonna benefit from it.”

When one of the adult males in the group started his own business everybody in the group cheered for

him, he reported thinking “wow those people are pretty cool, like those are not the kind of people I’ve

known in my life before.”

This group is more than just a group, it’s a family.

“ “


2017 Report


Parenting Skills

The Life Guides Program aims to increase healthy Parenting Skills, a foundational aspect of a healthy

household. The data presented reflects self-sufficiency scores for participating families based on an

instrument modified from the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix.1 The instrument and definitions for each

self-sufficiency status can be found in Appendix A.

CHANGE IN STATUS

Since joining the Life Guides Program, 69% of households’ status as it relates to Parenting Skills

remained the same or improved.

17% improved

52% maintained

17% worsened

The median2 status for Parenting Skills of participating families has remained constant at Stable. The

change in Parenting Skills was not statistically significant.3


The Life Guides Program seeks to help all families achieve a Parenting Skills status of Safe or above.

Seventy-six percent (76%) of participating families started the program at or above Safe in Parenting Skills.

As of June 2016, 93% of families are now at or above Safe in Parenting Skills.

17% increase in number of families at or above Safe in Parenting Skills


Baseline 7% 17% 55% 21% 0%

Endline 0% 7% 14% 55% 24%

Change -7% -10% -41% 34% 24%

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Parenting Skills


When asked how children have been impacted by the Life Guides Program, a common theme that

emerged was children’s improved quality of life because of their parent’s improved quality of life. When

parents get more control over their lives, it allows them to be happier and better parents. One participant

said that because of the Life Guides Program,

I’m in a totally different space in life and I refuse to fall back down… I’m to the point in my life

where I like myself. I like who I am now. I like the parent that I am, I like the woman that I am, and

I didn’t like me back then. I didn’t like who I was back then. I couldn’t even make my kids happy.

Cause I wasn’t happy. And you’re right your kids can feed from that for real. My babies had terrible

behavioral issues from that because I just was not happy.

Another participant that joined the Life Guides Program soon after her ex left the family, reported

struggling with the transition to becoming a single parent. “[My life guide is] like a therapist, always telling

me ‘You can do this, you can do this’ and it’s helped me tremendously. To make my house stable mentally

for the boys and I feel like that is way more than any amount of money can give me.”

Nelson-Moore Family

Autumn Nelson and Joshua Moore experienced relationship difficulty when Joshua and Autumn’s eldest

son were struggling to get along. “It’s hard being a parent and being in a relationship—and it’s nice to be

able to sit down and talk with people that are going through similar things. It’s nice to know you are not

alone.” With the support of other participants, Autumn says her and Joshua were able to work things out

by focusing on some positive parenting methods, in terms of setting expectation and making clear where

boundaries are and when they are crossed. Autumn’s older children came from “a 10-year old marriage

from hell.” She said that as a result of “three years of solid stable income, stable housing, stable consistent

parenting…we’re making it now, now I’m seeing solid years of improvement.” Autumn says that last year

her 10-year old “had countless…bus suspensions, we’re talking like week - two-week suspensions, having

him removed every day you know. This year, I had one 24-hour bus suspension from my oldest son and

zero school suspensions.” She went on to say, “last year my son had the same teacher as he did this year

[and]… when I went in for the first conference this year, she turned to me crying in front of him and said

that she’s been teaching for 20 something years and she never had more of an example turnaround story

than my son.” Autumn said her son is finally realizing, "that the rules aren’t going to bend and change for

him, that there is no gray area.” Autumn thinks the change in her son is attributable to the “repetition of

being a consistent parent….and it helped with stepdad being the adult he needed to be.”


2017 Report


Mental Health

Stable and strong mental health status is important for families to progress in their self-sufficiency. The

data presented reflects self-sufficiency scores for participating families based on an instrument modified

from the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix.1 The instrument and definitions for each self-sufficiency status

can be found in Appendix A.

CHANGE IN STATUS

Since joining the Life Guides Program, 83% of families’ Mental Health status remained the same or

improved.

31% improved

52% maintained

17% worsened

The median2 Mental Health situation of participating families has remained constant at Stable. The change

in the median Mental Health self-sufficiency status was not statistically significant.3


The Life Guides Program seeks to help all families achieve a Mental Health status of Safe or above.

Seventy-six percent (76%) of participating families started the program at or above Safe in Mental Health.

As of June 2016, 86% of families are now at or above Safe in Mental Health.

10% increase in number of families at or above Safe in Mental Health


Baseline 3% 21% 17% 21% 38%

Endline 7% 7% 24% 31% 31%

Change 4% -14% 7% 10% -7%

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Mental Health


The support participants received from their life guides and fellow participants helps improve their self-

image and helps get them through the tough times. “This program made me believe in myself for real.”

“Life Guides has calmed my life a little bit. It’s still crazy but…[Life Guides is] my rock. The support is huge.

And through the craziness of everything it helps kind of keep the mind intact.” “I think we’ve all had a

time where we’ve come in and just let out... we’ve had some hard stuff that we’ve dealt with and it was

nice having each other.”

Garcia Family

Domestic violence takes a large toll on a family. Breaking away from an abusive situation is not easy,

especially for Rebecca Garcia, mother of three, who struggles with borderline bipolar disorder. When

Rebecca Garcia met her life guide she was in an abusive relationship, didn’t have a job, or a reliable car.

“Everything I had was his and depended on him. I was bouncing from house to house and couch to couch

with him. I was homeless pretty much.” With the support of her life guide and other participants, Rebecca

was able to leave the abusive situation. When reflecting on her journey over the last three years, Rebecca

says, “I don’t think I would have gotten out of a lot of that if it wasn’t for the Goodwill group. At that point

in my life, I had no friends. I had nobody… every single person in my life was paid to be there…. I literally

was a shell of a person… I was at my lowest of my low.” When Rebecca met her life guide for the first time

she thought, “I’m not going to tell her everything, I’m not going to be completely open. Then the more I

talked to her, the more I knew it was a judgement free zone, like, it was my saving grace… It was safe. And

I needed that in my life.”

Rebecca’s life guide helped her obtain employment which she excelled at and was promoted within a

year. “That first year was the toughest, but I busted butt to get to where I needed to be.” Three years of

stable employment has allowed Rebecca to purchase a more reliable car and maintain stable housing.

“Hasn’t been the same house every time, but it’s been [more] stable… moved around quite a bit just so

we can afford it.” While Rebecca moved out of the school district, she made sure her kids remained at the

same schools. When asked how the Life Guides Program has impacted her family as a whole, Rebecca

said, “my family’s more successful—we’re successful as a family.” While a community mental health

program helped Rebecca get into therapy and on the right medicine, the encouragement and support of

her life guide and fellow participants has helped her continue to successfully manage her disorder and

stop self-harming behavior. “I’ve shown my kids that no matter what crud you’re thrown you just fight

through it. And we’re successful, we’re happy, we’re safe, and we have stability—they’re all things that I

don’t think I would have had the courage to do on my own. I mean just the whole, havin [my life guide]

to call and talk to and I can’t tell you how many times I called and talked to [my life guide] at the beginning.

Now it’s to the point where’s she’s checking up on me, asking if I’m doing alright because I don’t check in

as often.” Rebecca also reported being in a “a positive adult relationship.”


2017 Report

1 Limitation: The data presented here is collected from individual report cards based on student grades, which differ from school to school. Grades can vary from year to year based on many factors and are generally not used to compare educational outcomes across students over time. The evaluation was limited to the data available within the timeframe of the evaluation.

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Child Education

Life Guides long term goal is to increase the educational attainment of the target children who entered

the program between the ages of 0 and 3 years, with the majority of the program activities focusing on

literacy for 0 – 5 years. The program is currently unable to collect educational data on these target

children, as they are not yet attending grade school.

However, it is hypothesized that the education of siblings would be affected by families’ increase in self-

sufficiency. This is a long, term goal and takes years to affect. The data presented here only begins to

explore the effect of the Life Guides Program on children’s educational attainment. The data reported

below identifies whether children have met the grade level requirements and expectations for their

school, identified by grades on their yearly report card.1

EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT

As of Fall 2016, 39% of all children in the Life Guides Program are meeting expectations in both reading

and math.

39% Both Reading & Math

62% Reading

45% Math

At this point. the evaluators feel it would be irresponsible to report on any further analyses on educational attainment data because of the type and incompleteness of the data. Initial analyzes show that the percent of students meeting grade expectations decreases over time, both when analyzed by year and by program participation length. While these initial results are not encouraging, there is only three years of report data to report, with a significant portion of missing. Substantial claims about educational achievement cannot be concluded from the currently available data.

LIMITATIONS

Currently, little data is collected about the well-being or development of children ages 0 – 3 years. Program staff did collect limited data using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), however, the incomplete nature of the data did not allow further analysis. Additionally, program staff voiced concern over the validity and reliability of captured data.

The Life Guides Program’s staff has collected limited data on educational achievement from 2014 to Fall 2016. Currently, neither the program nor the evaluators have access to a substantial number of standardized test scores such as M-STEP or MEAP scores. Collecting this data was not feasible within the scope of this evaluation. Grades on report cards have been shown to fluctuate over time, teachers, and schools and are therefore not considered a trustworthy source of data to measure educational attainment. Additionally, there are no appropriate comparison groups for meeting grade level expectations on report cards, therefore, no comparison to non-Life Guides participants can be made currently. In the future, the Evaluation Team recommends obtaining M-STEP/MEAP data via parents or data sharing agreements with the school district.


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Child Education HOW THE LIFE GUIDES PROGRAM HELPED

Literacy The Life Guides Program provides families with children’s books on several occasions. Which the children

“absolutely love.” As a result, participants report that their kids are reading more often and that they are

reading more to their kids. “We read at night now and the kids pick out their books and I feel just more

togetherness.” Several parents reported that the Life Guides Program has been more successful at

encouraging their kids to read more than they have. One participant said, “literacy is a huge thing that

Life Guides has pushed…they wanted to create a comfortable literacy environment for our children. You

know kids if they love books and they love to read then they are gonna do a whole lot better in life.”

Educational Support and Resources Life guides help parents access resources needed for their children excel academically (e.g., speech

therapists, tutors, workbooks, flash cards). For example, Lauren James’ life guide was also able to help her

get her kindergartener the support he needed at school. As a result, Lauren says her son, who is now in

first grade, is reading at a fourth-grade level. Another participant’s son suffers from lead poisoning. Her

life guide connected him with an early education program. As a result, his mom says he is a “totally

different kid.”

Extracurricular Involvement

The Life Guides Program has supported many of the children to get involved in extracurricular activities—

primarily sports (e.g., football, basketball, wrestling, cheerleading, soccer, and dance). Families would

have been unable to pay for the extra expense if it were not for the Life Guides Program. One parent said

she would have felt very guilty and shameful if her kids couldn’t play sports because she couldn’t afford

them. Several parents also reported that their kids’ involvement in sports has helped them enjoy school

more and kept them out of trouble. “My daughter is in cheerleading…and its helped her get through the

school year. Cause she was on the verge of getting kicked out of school and it helped her…just having

something to look forward to.”

The Life Guides Program also started an informal club for teens. The Teen Leadership Group was formed

to bring the teens in the group together, who often don’t attend the monthly meetings, and provide them

an opportunity to serve their community, build leadership skills, and increase their awareness of different

career opportunities. Teens in the program gather a few times a year, usually in the summer to visit

organizations to learn about different careers (e.g., The Nature Center, local police) and volunteer in the

community (e.g., picking up trash, helping with rescue animals). As part of the teen club, one teen

discovered she liked helping children and community services. Now she’s decided to major in early

childhood education in college. Her mother reported that, “if it wasn’t for Life Guides she would be lost

in the wind right now.”


2017 Report

1 Length of time families participated in the Life Guides Program was examined since it was not possible to construct a comparison or control group—this is a weak but valid strategy to build evidence for attribution. 2 Statistically significant at the = 0.05 level using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. 3 There are seven (n = 7) families who have participated in the Life Guides Program for less than 2 years. 4 There are twenty-one (n = 21) families who have participated in the Life Guides Program for 2 years or more. 29

Attributable Effects One way to analyze whether the changes families have experienced are attributable1 to the Life Guides

Program is to compare whether families who have participated longer have seen a higher change in self-

sufficiency levels. Families that participated in the Life Guides Program for two or more years experienced

statistically significant improvements towards self-sufficiency as it relates to employment, income, and

education—as compared with families that have participated in the program for less than two years.

These finding suggest the progress families make towards self-sufficiency as it relates to employment,

income, and education may be attributable to the Life Guides Program.

Employment

Positive Change

Negative Change No Change Significant2

0-2 years 43% 0% 57%

2-5 years 71% 5% 24%

Income

0-2 years 57% 0% 43%

2-5 years 57% 5% 38%

Housing

0-2 years3 14% 0% 86%

2-5 years4 38% 14% 48%

Education

0-2 years 14% 14% 71%

2-5 years 29% 0% 71%

Family & Social

0-2 years 43% 0% 57%

2-5 years 43% 14% 43%

Parenting

0-2 years 0% 0% 100%

2-5 years 24% 24% 52%

Mental Health

0-2 years 43% 14% 43%

2-5 years 29% 19% 52%


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Conclusions

POSITIVE PROGRESS TOWARDS SELF-SUFFICIENCY has been demonstrated.

Through this evaluation, the quantitative and qualitative data indicate the Life Guides Program has had positive effects on participating families. Participating families are making positive steps in short-term outcomes, including self-confidence, goal setting, and resiliency (see pages 7-9). Families have also shown statistically significant improvement in self-sufficiency in the domains of employment, income, housing, and adult education (see page 13).

TRUST BETWEEN LIFE GUIDES AND FAMILIES ALLOWS FOR Meaningful CHANGE.

The data points to the importance of the relational foundation built between life guides and their families. Trust between Life Guides and participating families allows for a more intimate and valuable relationship. This trust allows for Life Guides to give honest and sometimes frank advice, and allows participating families to be vulnerable and identify where they most need help, a task that can be difficult. The data suggests these strong relationships are what allows for stronger and more successful outcomes on self-confidence and self-sufficiency.

The Program’s COMMITMENT, STRUCTURE , AND APPROACH PROMOTES CHANGE.

The program’s twenty-year commitment to serve families, along with its continuity of staff is one of its greatest strengths. This continued dedication to the progress of participating families also allows for a tailored approach to addressing each family’s unique and changing situation. The program’s ability to help where help is needed instead of having staff’s hands tied by red tape was a strength repeated by many participants. The program’s approach acknowledges and addresses the interconnectedness of barriers to self-sufficiency—which the program helps participants overcome. As, the obstacles faced by families living in poverty are propagated by structural economic, gender, and racial inequity and cannot be overcome when looking at problems one-dimensionally.

PROGRAM SUCCESS IS DEPENDENT ON DEDICATED AND HIGHLY CAPABLE STAFF.

The success of the Life Guides Program is highly dependent on the personalities and dedication of the program staff. Through participant interviews and observations, it is obvious that the program staff devote themselves to the program day and night, even on the weekends. They are more than coaches or even guides to participants, they are family. Participants accept life guides into their lives, invite them into their homes, call them with their successes, and share their struggles. The current staff could not be replaced without uprooting the success of the program.

PROGRAM IMPACT IS CONSTRAINED BY LOCAL CONTEXT /OBSTACLES TO SUCCESS.

It is important to note that outcomes of the Life Guides Program need to be considered within the local context and the barriers constructed by structural economic, gender, and racial inequity. For example, participants can only increase their income when there are high-paying jobs available, they can only obtain GEDs if they have the available time, and they can only find affordable housing when it is available. The Life Guides Program has shown itself to be a dedicated to helping families overcome barriers of systematic oppression.


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Limitations & Lessons learned LIMITATIONS

The major limitations of this report are due to the constraints of the main data collection instrument. The Life Guides Program used the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix to collect data on families’ level of self-sufficiency. Program staff indicated that as a result, matrix ratings are likely inconsistent and subjective—despite their best efforts. Domains that rely heavily on self-reported information are particularly vulnerable to inaccuracies. For example, baseline scores in the domains of Parenting and Mental Health were identified as being inflated since staff did not know the families well enough at the time to suggest more appropriate ratings. Other domains, such as employment or housing, have more concrete measurements attached to them, making their scores more reliable.

Data regarding children ages 0 – 3 years was not available for the purposes of this evaluation. Program staff attempted to collect information using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), however, scores were unreliable and incomplete. Staff reported not being confident in the ability of this test to adequately detect meaningful changes and are looking for another instrument.

Student educational attainment is generally measured through standardized test scores (e.g., MSTEP); however, program staff only had scores for a small number of individuals. While the program staff began collecting report cards in 2013, available data for the group is limited—since this requires parents to bring their children’s report card. Further, since report card grades reported vary across time, teachers, and schools, it is impossible to locate a proper comparison group using the available educational data.

The long-term nature of the intended outcomes of the Life Guides Program such as employment, education, and financial stability limit the degree to which changed can be observed at the current time—four years into the program. Large changes in these long-term outcomes cannot be realistically expected for at least 8-10 years. It is also important to note that outcomes of the Life Guides Program needs to be considered within the local context in terms of structural economic, gender, and racial inequity. For example, participants can only increase their income when high-paying jobs are available, obtain GEDs if they have the available time, and find affordable housing when it is in supply.

LESSONS LEARNED

This evaluation confirmed the need to substantially change the self-sufficiency matrix used by the Life Guides Program. The new self-sufficiency matrix will remedy most of the short comings.

In the future, it is recommended that data release agreements be obtained with the Kalamazoo and Allegan School Districts to allow access to MSTEP scores for participating children. This would allow the program to track children’s education with more validity and allow for comparison to non-participating children. This was not possible within the scope of the current evaluation.

The limitations of this evaluation also point to the need for a more systematic and rigorous data collection plan, including the collection of more short-term outcomes. For example, collecting information on the resilience, self-esteem, and chronic stress levels of families would allow for a more nuanced understanding of how the Life Guides Program affects families in the short- and intermediate-term.


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Appendix A: Life Guides Self-Sufficiency Matrix Self-sufficiency data was measured by program staff between 2012 and 2016 using this self-sufficiency matrix, which is based on the Arizona Self-Sufficiency matrix. It should be noted that this instrument will not be used to assess self-sufficiency for the program in the future — another matrix, that is more responsive to the context of the project has been developed.


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Appendix B: Life Guides Focus Group

Protocol Purpose: Identify how the program has impacted families and areas for improvement. Go beyond what

is tracked in matrix.

Length: 60 minutes

Accompanying Materials: Handout with space for parents to brainstorm impact on individual family

members to prepare for group discussion (see next page)

Step 1: Entire group to together

1. Draw all family members, list each person name and age (5 min)

2. Individually list most significant changes (if any) for each family member related to participation

in LGs (5 min)

3. Individually, list most significant changes (if any) in terms of family dynamics related to

participation in LGs (5 min)

Split into groups

Step 2: Discuss prompts below with each group.

1. Impact on children (10 min)

2. Impact on parents (10 min)

3. Impact on family dynamics (5 min)

4. How will family participation impact kids when they are older? [Getting at intergenerational

poverty] (5 min)

5. Strengths of the Life Guides Program (8 min)

o Prompts:

▪ Exceeded expectations of the Life Guides Program

▪ Why recommend others join?

6. Areas for improvement (7 min)

o Prompts:

▪ What change moving forward?

▪ What surprised you about being part of the Life Guides Program?

▪ How else could the Life Guides Program support you to reach your goals?

▪ Any negative impact?


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Focus Group Handout: Space for parents to brainstorm impact on individual family members to prepare for group discussion.


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Appendix c: Life Guides

Interview Protocol Discuss Before Interview:

• Purpose: Learn more about individual stories and dynamics impacting participants situations’

• Report at group level, real names will not be used

• Questions before we begin

• Is it okay to record this interview?

Questions

• Tell me about your housing situation before the Life Guides Program and how it’s changed. (10

minutes)

• Tell me about your employment situation before the Life Guides Program and how it’s changed.

(10 minutes)

• Tell me about your income situation before the Life Guides Program and how it’s changed. (5

minutes)

• Tell me about your knowledge of finance and credit before the Life Guides Program and how it’s

changed. (5 minutes)

• Tell me about your family and social network before the Life Guides Program and how it’s

changed. (10 minutes)

• Are there any other significant changes in your family that we haven’t discussed? (10 minutes)

• What do you view as the most significant obstacles for you and your family towards getting to

where you want to be? (10 minutes)

• Do you have any questions for me?

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