Enhancing Family Support Services with Rapid-Cycle Learning and Advanced Analytics
A Mathematica Case Study
Faster feedback, smarter support: Enabling timely decision-making to improve marriage and relationship programs
Client Need
Programs needed faster insights
Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs provide meaningful support to families and individuals at all stages of life. However, many programs face persistent challenges with recruitment, retention, and service delivery—and lack clear guidance on how to improve. The slow pace of traditional evaluation methods can make it difficult to refine program strategies on a timeline that aligns with participant needs.
Our Approach
A smarter, faster approach to improvement
To help HMRE programs respond more effectively, our team applied rapid cycle learning, guided by an evidence-based approach to managing program improvement. This approach allowed us to test and refine improvement strategies in real time, quickly boosting the efficiency and impact of services. Our work focused on:
- Using real-time feedback to improve service delivery
- Identifying the most effective outreach methods to boost recruitment
- Developing lessons about promising practices for the HMRE field
Key Outcomes
By making it easier to continuously refine recruitment, retention, and service delivery models, we helped HMRE programs develop promising tools and strategies to increase engagement and long-term participation rates—supporting more stable, positive outcomes for families. With our support, Gateway Community Action—an organization serving adults across nine rural counties in eastern Kentucky—expanded its referral partnerships and improved its virtual facilitation strategies. These enhancements strengthened Gateway’s community partner network for its HMRE program and led to its highest monthly enrollment to date—a 45 percent increase from the previous month.
It matters because with intuitive, data-informed tools, family support programs can adapt quickly to the changing needs of their participants, continuously improving in a dynamic environment. Rapid cycle-learning, paired with advanced analytics, equips agencies to overcome challenges and deliver meaningful, measurable results for the people and communities they serve.
Efficiency Meets Impact.
That's Progress Together.
To solve their most pressing challenges, organizations turn to Mathematica for deeply integrated expertise. We bring together subject matter and policy experts, data scientists, methodologists, and technologists who work across topics and sectors to help our partners design, improve, and scale evidence-based solutions.
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