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Building Strong Families (BSF)

Published by ACF | U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | Metadata Last Checked: September 06, 2025 | Last Modified: 2025-07-03
The Building Strong Families (BSF) project examined the effectiveness of programs designed to improve child well-being and strengthen the relationships of low-income couples through relationship skills education. It surveyed couples 15 months and 36 months after having applied to and been accepted into a Building Stronger Families (BSF) program at one of eight locations offering services to unwed couples expecting, or having recently had a baby. Major topics included family structure, parental involvement with children, relationships, personal and parental well-being, utilization of services such as workshops to help their relationship and parenting skills, paternity and child support, and family self-sufficiency. Respondents were asked for information on recently born children and relationship status, how much time they spent with their children, their level of satisfaction with their current relationship, substance use, if they had attended relationship and parental counseling, whether they were legally required to provide child support, employment, and family background. Additional information was asked about domestic violence and child abuse, legal trouble, past sexual history, and child development. The 36-month data collection effort also included direct assessments of parenting and child development. The quality of the parenting relationship was assessed for both mothers and fathers and was based on a semi-structured play activity, "the two-bag task." This interaction was videotaped and later coded by trained assessors on multiple dimensions of parenting. During assessments with mothers, the focal child's language development was also assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Demographic data includes race, education level, age, income, and marital status. The data collection is comprised of seven parts. Part 1: the BSF Eligibility and Baseline Survey Data file; Part 2: the BSF 15-Month Follow-up Survey Data file; Part 3: the program participation data file; Part 4: the BSF 15-month follow-up analysis file; Part 5: the BSF 36-Month Follow-up Survey Data file; Part 6: the mother-child in-home assessment; and Part 7: the BSF 36-Month Follow-up analysis file. Units of Response: Low-income couples with children Type of Data: Evaluation Tribal Data: No COVID-19 Data: No Periodicity: One-time SORN: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/09/19/2022-20139/privacy-act-of-1974-system-of-records Data Use Agreement: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/rpxlogin Data Use Agreement Location: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/datadocumentation Equity Indicators: Sex Granularity: Household;Individual Spatial: United States Geocoding: Unavailable

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
bureauCode 
                                            [
  "009:70"
]
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "Unavailable",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:datagov@acf.hhs.gov"
}
description The Building Strong Families (BSF) project examined the effectiveness of programs designed to improve child well-being and strengthen the relationships of low-income couples through relationship skills education. It surveyed couples 15 months and 36 months after having applied to and been accepted into a Building Stronger Families (BSF) program at one of eight locations offering services to unwed couples expecting, or having recently had a baby. Major topics included family structure, parental involvement with children, relationships, personal and parental well-being, utilization of services such as workshops to help their relationship and parenting skills, paternity and child support, and family self-sufficiency. Respondents were asked for information on recently born children and relationship status, how much time they spent with their children, their level of satisfaction with their current relationship, substance use, if they had attended relationship and parental counseling, whether they were legally required to provide child support, employment, and family background. Additional information was asked about domestic violence and child abuse, legal trouble, past sexual history, and child development. The 36-month data collection effort also included direct assessments of parenting and child development. The quality of the parenting relationship was assessed for both mothers and fathers and was based on a semi-structured play activity, "the two-bag task." This interaction was videotaped and later coded by trained assessors on multiple dimensions of parenting. During assessments with mothers, the focal child's language development was also assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Demographic data includes race, education level, age, income, and marital status. The data collection is comprised of seven parts. Part 1: the BSF Eligibility and Baseline Survey Data file; Part 2: the BSF 15-Month Follow-up Survey Data file; Part 3: the program participation data file; Part 4: the BSF 15-month follow-up analysis file; Part 5: the BSF 36-Month Follow-up Survey Data file; Part 6: the mother-child in-home assessment; and Part 7: the BSF 36-Month Follow-up analysis file. <b>Units of Response: </b>Low-income couples with children <b>Type of Data: </b>Evaluation <b>Tribal Data: </b>No <b>COVID-19 Data: </b>No <b>Periodicity: </b>One-time <b>SORN: </b>https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/09/19/2022-20139/privacy-act-of-1974-system-of-records <b>Data Use Agreement: </b>https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/rpxlogin <b>Data Use Agreement Location: </b>https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/datadocumentation <b>Equity Indicators: </b>Sex <b>Granularity: </b>Household;Individual <b>Spatial: </b>United States <b>Geocoding: </b>Unavailable
distribution 
                                            [
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "The Building Strong Families Project: BSF's Effects on Couples Who Attended Group Relationship Skills Sessions: A Special Analysis of 15-Month Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Building Strong Families (BSF), a program of relationship skills education for unwed parents, has been found in a rigorous random assignment evaluation to have limited effects on couples who signed up for the program (Wood, McConnell, et al. 2010). Averaging results across the eight local programs that participated in the evaluation, BSF had no effect on the couples’ relationship quality or on the likelihood that they would remain romantically involved or get married 15 months after they enrolled in the program. When impacts were examined separately for the eight programs, only one was found to have a consistent pattern of positive effects on couples’ relationships, while another was found to have negative effects.  Data Product Type: Report",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/bsf_relationships.pdf"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "The Building Strong Families Project: The Long–Term Effects of Building Strong Families: A Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents Executive Summary",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "The proportion of children born to unmarried parents continues to increase. Currently, more than 4 out of every 10 children born in the United States have unmarried parents. Although many unmarried parents live together when their children are born, their relationships are often tenuous and most end within a few years of the child’s birth. Therefore, most of these children are raised in households that do not include both of their biological parents. If interventions can improve the quality of unmarried parents’ relationships and increase the likelihood that they remain together, these interventions might also improve the well-being of their children. Thus, one possible approach to improving child well-being is strengthening the relationships of low-income couples through relationship skills education. 

The Building Strong Families (BSF) project, sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, evaluated this kind of approach. The project developed, implemented, and tested voluntary programs that offer relationship skills education and other support services to unwed couples who are expecting or who have just had a baby. Eight organizations volunteered to be part of a rigorous evaluation designed to test a new strategy to help new, unmarried parents strengthen their relationships. These organizations implemented BSF programs around the country, complying with a set of research-based program guidelines.   Data Product Type: Report",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/bsf_36_mo_impact_exec_summ.pdf"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS4 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Analysis Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF 15-Month Follow-up Analysis information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/datadocumentation"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS4 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Analysis Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF 15-Month Follow-up Analysis information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/summary"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS2 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Survey Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF 15-Month Follow-up Survey information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/datadocumentation"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS2 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Survey Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF 15-Month Follow-up Survey information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/summary"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS7 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Analysis Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF 36-Month Follow-up Analysis information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/datadocumentation"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS7 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Analysis Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF 36-Month Follow-up Analysis information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/summary"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS5 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Survey Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF 36-Month Follow-up Survey information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/datadocumentation"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS5 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Survey Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF 36-Month Follow-up Survey information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/summary"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS6 BSF 36-Month Mother-Child In-Home Assessment",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF 36-Month Mother-Child In-Home Assessment information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/datadocumentation"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS6 BSF 36-Month Mother-Child In-Home Assessment",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF 36-Month Mother-Child In-Home Assessment information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/summary"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS1 BSF Baseline and Eligibility Survey Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF Baseline and Eligibility Survey information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/datadocumentation"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS1 BSF Baseline and Eligibility Survey Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF Baseline and Eligibility Survey information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/summary"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS3 BSF MIS Program Participation Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF MIS Program Participation information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/datadocumentation"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "DS3 BSF MIS Program Participation Data",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This data file is about BSF MIS Program Participation information from the Building Strong Families (BSF) Project Data Collection that was run from 2005 to 2008, United States (ICPSR 29781) Temporal: July 2005-March 2008, Restriction: Restricted-use Micro, Formats: N/A",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781/summary"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "The Building Strong Families Project: The Long–Term Effects of Building Strong Families: A Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "This report focuses on impacts measured about three years after couples applied for the BSF program, when the children who made them eligible for the program were about three years old. It represents the final look at BSF’s effects on couples and their children. It examines outcomes in three main areas: (1) the status and quality of the couples’ relationships, (2) parenting and father involvement, and (3) child well-being. A technical supplement to this report presents additional detail on how the analysis was conducted, as well as additional impact results (Moore et al. 2012). Two earlier reports documented the implementation of the eight local BSF programs (Dion et al. 2008; Dion et al. 2010).  Data Product Type: Report",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/bsf_36_mo_impact_report.pdf"
  }
]
identifier https://healthdata.gov/api/views/iqnt-vkyk
issued 2023-11-17
keyword 
                                            [
  "children and families",
  "family assistance",
  "research and evaluation"
]
landingPage https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/building-strong-families-2002-2013
modified 2025-07-03
programCode 
                                            [
  "009:103"
]
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "ACF",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
theme 
                                            [
  "ACF"
]
title Building Strong Families (BSF)

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