Researchers at Bowling Green State University presented on healthy marriages and healthy relationships at the Eleventh Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference that is sponsored through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. The qualitative assessment focused on what healthy marriage participants think about marriage or relationships and why they attend classes as well as key lessons that are learned from these classes.

This research brief was done through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of Human Services Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative (OMI). The OMI has been very successful in promoting marriage education across the State, and in enlisting volunteers in local communities. This brief focuses on how the OMI recruited and mobilized a volunteer workforce and highlights the role of large, regional one-day community events in introducing and stimulating interest in relationship skills workshops.

This is the process evaluation of the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative (OMI), which was sponsored through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The OMI is the longest and most comprehensive marriage program in the country, and this report shows the extent to which the OMI has reached vulnerable families. Specifically, around five to ten percent of Oklahoma families have participated in OMI workshops, and every county in the State has been reached.

This report is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation and is an evaluation of the Community Healthy Marriage Initiative. It focuses on the implementation of three projects funded through section 1115 grants from ACF’s Office of Child Support Enforcement. The report examines three different approaches to implementing a healthy marriage initiative and describes how various organizations leverage their strengths and abilities to implement their programs. The report includes demographic data on each of the program participants and if they are receiving TANF benefits.

Offered at the OFA Entrance Conference for Healthy Marriage and Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Grantees, this presentation offers information on the use of logic models for healthy marriage programs. The presentation provides a basic understanding of logic modeling and how to build appropriate logic models for specific programs.

The RAND Corporation authored this report on the effects of work-conditioned welfare programs on marriage or child well-being. By using a theoretical framework and past research in this area, authors find that welfare programs can increase family income, which will affect child outcomes.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania conducted this study on the recent trends on marriage stability in the United States. While recent data offers conflicting evidence, authors review data, and conclude that marital stability has increased among married couples since the mid-late 1970s.

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation funded this report, which synthesizes and evaluates the literature on adolescent romantic relationships, with emphasis on how these relationships are precursors of adult marriages. The goal of the report is to provide a foundation for policies to promote healthy marriages through programs targeted to adolescents.

The number of children born to unmarried parents has been steadily increasing. In 2005, 37 percent of children were born to unmarried parents. Responding to these trends, the Federal government implemented the Healthy Marriage Initiative. This brief, from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, provides information on the relationship dynamics of unmarried couples who recently had a child, which is the target population form many healthy marriage programs.

The African American Healthy Marriage Initiative is a component of the ACF Healthy Marriage Initiative and promotes a culturally competent strategy for fostering healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood, improving child well-being, and strengthening families within the African American Community. This newsletter is from the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative for the month of May. It provides information on Black Marriage Day and an overview of events from the month of March.