This month, Elevate released results from the first major effort to evaluate the MOMS Partnership model by using five years of pooled data collected across the MOMS network. The MOMS Partnership® Cross-Site Evaluation Report: Evaluating the Successes and Impact of the First Phase of Scaling, 2018-2023 highlights high implementation fidelity for the program’s core design, high participant engagement rates, and significant pre-to-post improvements in mental health outcomes for participants, which are retained over time.

Seven unique sites, representing a diverse range of partner organizations, participated in the initial phase of scaling the MOMS Partnership model and were included in this dataset. Despite marked differences in site characteristics, settings, and partner types, findings indicate that MOMS implementation was remarkably true to its original design and intent. An assessment of overall fidelity across fifteen elements found that five of the seven sites achieved high (four sites) or moderate-high (one site) fidelity ratings, and no site received a low fidelity rating. While some modifications occurred at individual sites, they were generally minor.

The program successfully met all eight of the key program targets and outcomes examined in the cross-site evaluation. Enrollment rates were notably strong, with 88% of available seats filled. Attendance metrics also reflected hearty engagement in the program, as participants attended an average of six out of eight classes. Overall satisfaction with the MOMS program was decidedly positive—92.5% of participants reported being “satisfied” or “very satisfied.” Additionally, participants indicated that the skills they learned had practical value—on average, participants rated the skills between “somewhat helpful” to “very helpful” and reported using the skills “often” in their daily lives.

The evaluation also examined promise of effectiveness for the MOMS program by examining pre-to-post changes in four standardized outcome measures, which were collected consistently across sites. The results demonstrated statistically significant pre-to-post improvements in all four measures—depressive symptoms (CES-D), anxiety symptoms (GAD-7), perceived stress (PSS-4), and perceived social support (MOS-SSS). Furthermore, these positive changes were maintained at the three-month follow-up assessment.

To explore possible factors influencing program success, five variables (pertaining to participant, group, and site characteristics) were tested. Notably, participants who entered MOMS programming with greater challenges—such as, higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, or lower social support—showed more substantial improvements by the program’s end. Both virtual and in-person classes were associated with positive changes in outcome measures, but a significant moderation effect was also found: virtual classes were related to greater reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms and perceived stress, while in-person classes were associated with greater improvements in social support. There were no significant moderation effects for group size; thus, pre-post changes in outcomes did not depend on this factor. Moderation effects were found for site implementation fidelity in pre-post changes in anxiety symptoms and social support; but with a mixed pattern of results, requiring further investigation.

Elevate has already begun to apply findings from the cross-site evaluation to drive improvements and updates to the MOMS Partnership model and theory of change. Powered by learnings from this evaluation, Elevate is refining best practices and strategies for developing MOMS Partnerships in new communities, for supporting successful implementation of the MOMS Partnership model, and for evaluating metrics of success.

Elevate is seeking opportunities for continued scaling of the MOMS Partnership model, to broaden the demonstrated impact of MOMS programming to new populations of mothers in new communities.

The cross-site evaluation was conducted with support from the Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund.