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Building Strong Families (BSF)

HealthData.Gov

Updated Oct 29, 2026

About this dataset

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

Data and resources (17)

  • HTML

    DS5 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Survey Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS5 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Survey Data
  • HTML

    DS5 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Survey Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS5 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Survey Data
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    DS2 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Survey Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS2 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Survey Data
  • HTML

    DS2 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Survey Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS2 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Survey Data
  • HTML

    DS4 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Analysis Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS4 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Analysis Data
  • HTML

    DS4 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Analysis Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS4 BSF 15-Month Follow-up Analysis Data
  • HTML

    DS6 BSF 36-Month Mother-Child In-Home Assessment

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS6 BSF 36-Month Mother-Child In-Home Assessment
  • HTML

    DS6 BSF 36-Month Mother-Child In-Home Assessment

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS6 BSF 36-Month Mother-Child In-Home Assessment
  • HTML

    DS1 BSF Baseline and Eligibility Survey Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS1 BSF Baseline and Eligibility Survey Data
  • HTML

    DS1 BSF Baseline and Eligibility Survey Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS1 BSF Baseline and Eligibility Survey Data
  • HTML

    DS7 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Analysis Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS7 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Analysis Data
  • HTML

    DS7 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Analysis Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS7 BSF 36-Month Follow-up Analysis Data
  • HTML

    DS3 BSF MIS Program Participation Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS3 BSF MIS Program Participation Data
  • HTML

    DS3 BSF MIS Program Participation Data

    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

    Modified Oct 29, 2026

    Open link: DS3 BSF MIS Program Participation Data
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    The Building Strong Families Project: BSF's Effects on Couples Who Attended Group Relationship Skills Sessions: A Special Analysis of 15-Month Data

    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…

    Modified Aug 13, 2026

    Open link: The Building Strong Families Project: BSF's Effects on Couples Who Attended Group Relationship Skills Sessions: A Special Analysis of 15-Month Data
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    The Building Strong Families Project: The Long–Term Effects of Building Strong Families: A Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents Executive Summary

    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…

    Modified Aug 13, 2026

    Open link: The Building Strong Families Project: The Long–Term Effects of Building Strong Families: A Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents Executive Summary
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    The Building Strong Families Project: The Long–Term Effects of Building Strong Families: A Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents

    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…

    Modified Aug 13, 2026

    Open link: The Building Strong Families Project: The Long–Term Effects of Building Strong Families: A Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents
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