Evaluating a Family-Based Program to Improve Health and Development for School-Aged Girls at Risk of Migration in Ghana

What this Trial Is About

This research aims to evaluate a family-based intervention called ANZANSI to improve developmental and health outcomes for female adolescent migrants at risk of school dropout in Ghana. It focuses on unaccompanied minors migrating from rural to urban areas for work, a group vulnerable to hazardous child labor and related risks to schooling, health, and wellbeing. The study will assess the interventions impact on unaccompanied migration, academic progress, psychosocial outcomes, and mechanisms of change at individual, family, and community levels. The trial will randomly assign 32 public junior high schools in Ghanas Northern region to either receive bolstered usual care or the ANZANSI Family Program. Bolstered care includes standard school services plus school supplies. The ANZANSI program combines family economic empowerment, consisting of financial literacy training, a matched savings account called the Child Development Account, and family income-generating activity support, with a multiple family group intervention focused on relationships, communication, stress, and social support. The intervention will last 12 months. Participants will include 960 adolescent girls aged 11 to 14 and their caregivers. Assessments will occur at baseline, then 12, 24, and 36 months after starting the intervention. Researchers will measure outcomes such as unaccompanied migration, school attendance, grade progress, self-esteem, family cohesion, saving behaviors, and caregiver relationships. The study also includes qualitative analysis and cost-effectiveness evaluation. Participation involves completing surveys and attending intervention sessions over the study period.

Testing the Impact of Family-Based Intervention to Improve Developmental and Health Outcomes for Female Adolescents