Evaluating the Impact of Emergency Maternity Housing

NCT ID: NCT05428514

Last Updated: 2022-06-23

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 1048 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-05-30
• Study Completion Date: 2025-12-01

Brief Summary

Moms will call and agencies will determine if she is eligible based on basic criteria. If she is eligible, the agency will send her an intake application link to complete, which includes a consent form. After completing the survey, if she is still eligible, she will be placed on a waitlist for services. When a bed becomes available in an individual agency, the agency will call two moms at the top of the waitlist, conduct in-person interviews to confirm eligibility and good fit. They will use a computer to randomly assign one to treatment and one to control. Agency will let moms know of their status and will allow the treatment mom to move in. Moms in treatment and control will be surveyed approximately one year post the mother's reported due date of the child.

Detailed Description

The process begins when an expectant month calls a home seeking housing. The maternity home caseworker will ask basic screening questions to determine eligibility. Those found ineligible are referred elsewhere. If the mom is eligible, the caseworker will send her a link to an online application asking a variety of questions surrounding her current housing and employment, health and mental health, other children, criminal justice involvement, etc. The application will include a brief consent form asking for permission to use her information. She will have the option of consenting or not. When she submits her response, the caseworker will be able to review her answers. If there are any answers that would make the mom ineligible at this point, the caseworker will call her and refer her to other local services. If she is still a good fit, the caseworker will call her and let her know that she is eligible but that they don't have any open beds, and that she will be put on a waitlist for the next available bed.

When a bed becomes available, a caseworker will call the top two moms on the waitlist and schedule a time for an in-person interview. They will conduct both interviews to confirm eligibility. After the interview, caseworkers might convene at the home to discuss whether the moms are good fits for group living (for example, the mothers are sometimes unwilling to abide by house rules and they might indicate hesitancy during an interview). If one is not a good fit, the caseworker will let her know she is ineligible and bring in the next mom on the list for an interview. Once two moms are found eligible, the caseworkers will put their names into a separate survey form, which on the backend will randomly assign one to treatment and one to control. The caseworker will call each mom back and let her know if they are going to be able to help her based on her randomization status. Control moms will be referred to other local services. Treatment moms will schedule a time to move in. Both consented and unconsented moms will be randomized the same - having the same odds of receiving services.

Note that three of the five homes will utilize the procedure above. The fourth and fifth homes will complete the same process up to the waitlist stage. Once a bed is available, the caseworker will call the top two moms on the waitlist to confirm they are still interested, then they will randomize them and let them know their status. Only the treatment mom will be brought in for an interview since this home is confident they will be able to determine eligibility based off of the phone and survey application screen and only need the interview to determine services for moms who will actually move into the home.

All moms will complete a follow up survey about one year after the estimated birth of the child (as reported as the due date at baseline).

Conditions

Housing Problems; Pregnancy Related

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Maternity Home Bed

Receives a bed in the maternity home, wrap-around services, etc.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Maternity Housing

Intervention Type: OTHER

Receives a bed in the maternity home, wrap-around services, etc.

Control

Referred to other services available in the community

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Maternity Housing

Receives a bed in the maternity home, wrap-around services, etc.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Other Intervention Names

Emergency Maternity Housing

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Each home has their own eligibility criteria. The main three criteria common across homes are that a woman must be at least 18 years old, experiencing housing instability, and pregnant. No home has an income standard because, by definition, applicants are in a precarious housing situation so most women are low-income. Each home does have slightly different eligibility criteria. For example, some homes allow other children to come with her into the home, while other homes do not. Some homes require a background check and might allow a woman to enter the home anyway depending on the prior offense.

Exclusion Criteria

• Women who are not pregnant, men, pregnant women under 18, some homes exclude mothers who have other children currently in their care

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: FEMALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Bethlehem House

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

In My Shoes

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Our Lady's Inn, USA

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Aid for Women

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Maggie's Place, USA

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Notre Dame

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

William Evans

Dr. William Evans, Keough Hesburgh Professor of Economics

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

William Evans, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Notre Dame

Adrienne Sabety, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Notre Dame

Jessica Brown, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of South Carolina

Locations

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, Indiana, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

William Evans, PhD

Role: CONTACT

wevans1@nd.edu

5746317039

Vivian Crumlish, MEd

Role: CONTACT

vcrumlis@nd.edu

5746311669

Facility Contacts

William Evans, PhD

Role: primary

wevans1@nd.edu

574-631-7039

Vivian Crumlish, MEd

Role: backup

vcrumlis@nd.edu

574-631-1669

Other Identifiers

22-04-7182

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id