A validation study of the Colorado Family Support Assessment 2.0

This study tested the psychometric properties, criterion-related validity, and responsiveness over time of an interview-based assessment of family strengths and needs, the Colorado Family Support Assessment (CFSA 2.0). We examined secondary data on 3,580 diverse families served by 27 Family Resource Centers (FRCs) across Colorado. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) validated a two-factor structure (economic self-sufficiency and health) of Part A of the tool. Invariance tests supported configural, metric, and scalar invariance over repeated measures and across rural/urban residences, suggesting that familiarity does not change the meaning of the domain scores at the second administration from the first, and that the economic self-sufficiency and health scales are manifesting similarly for families living in rural and urban regions. Configural and metric (but not scalar) invariance was supported across five different racial and ethnic groups. Additionally, controlling for family characteristics, families with unmet needs at FRC entry had lower economic self-sufficiency scores than other families, supporting criterion-related validity. Finally, multi-level growth models demonstrated that the tool was sensitive to changes in family self-sufficiency over time. Overall, findings support family support programs’ use of the CFSA 2.0 as an outcome measure that assesses family self-sufficiency over time and across contexts.