Testing the Effectiveness of Behavioral Text Messages to Promote Attendance at HMRE Sessions

The University of Florida operates the SMART program, which will offer four relationship education programs, each targeting a different population: (1) Relationship Smarts PLUS, for high school youth; (2) Before You Tie the Knot, for couples interested in marriage; (3) ELEVATE, for couples, and (4) Smart Steps, for couples in stepfamilies. All programming is offered through the University of Florida's IFAS Extension service in Citrus, Duval, Manatee, Palm Beach, and Santa Rosa counties. The STREAMS evaluation will test text messaging strategies with couples enrolled in ELEVATE and Smart Steps. It will examine whether text messages informed by behavioral insight theory can improve couples' attendance at relationship skills education group sessions, and if so, which kinds of messages are most effective. ACF staff have noted that among the most common technical assistance requests from HMRE grantees are help with improving participation. Even if relationship skills sessions are offered in a convenient location where adults receive other services and even if programs offer transportation, child care and other assistance to facilitate regular program attendance, achieving consistent participation in these voluntary programs can be challenging. The University of Florida study will help address these challenges by examining whether text messages based on behavioral theories can work as a simple, practical strategy for improving program participation in group sessions. More broadly, the site will also add to the large and growing effort across the federal government to study the use of behavioral interventions or "nudges" to improve social programs.