Research has consistently shown that family structure can facilitate or limit the ways in which parents are able to positively influence the future outcomes of their children. What is less understood is in what domains family structure matters and the magnitude of its effects over time. This paper presents existing evidence on the association between […]
The Welfare Peer TA Network sponsored a multi-State TA event on July 15-16, 2003, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This event was co-coordinated with Public Strategies, the public relations firm that manages the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative. The Administration for Children and Families’ Region VI, VII and IX Offices provided additional support, ensuring this event met State […]
ACF, with support from the Welfare Peer TA Network, sponsored the Developing a Marriage Initiative for Your State workshop on September 17-18, 2002, in Oklahoma City, OK. Participants primarily represented Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and child support staff from the following States: Iowa, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and […]
Policymakers at the state and federal levels are showing increased interest in programs designed to encourage family formation among unmarried parents through interventions like marriage education, relationship skills, co-parenting, and responsible fatherhood programs. Interest in unmarried parents is based on a concern that children in single-parent households do not fare as well as children raised […]
This paper is intended to provide a background and context for the new Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative that informs readers about the current state of research knowledge about Latino families. Therefore, the goals of the current paper include: recognizing the unique issues associated with Latino families, reviewing the extant literature related to family formation, family […]
The Community Healthy Marriage Initiative (CHMI) is a key component of the demonstration strategy of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to determine how public policies can best support healthy marriages. Two concepts underlie the CHMI strategy. One is that community coalitions can be an effective vehicle for developing a range of healthy marriage […]
In 2002, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services launched the Healthy Marriage Initiative (HMI) to support the President Bush’s goal of increasing healthy marriages by focusing attention and action on strengthening marriages and preparing interested individuals and couples for healthy marriage. In supporting healthy marriage, ACF […]
This paper explores the challenges, opportunities and lessons learned from domestic violence protocol development at sites currently receiving federal funds for healthy marriage activities and with domestic violence advocates attempting to partner with these programs and others. By way of establishing a context for this analysis, we provide a brief discussion on domestic violence prevalence […]
The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) funded this project to learn about the status of policies to support and promote marriage at the state level. We inventoried policies that were enacted and proposed both prior to PRWORA and after the law’s passage. The project did not examine specific programs operating in localities. Nor […]
The ACF West-Central Hub Family Stabilization Workshop, held September 26 and 27, 2001, in Denver, had three primary themes: Responsible Fatherhood, Faith-based and Community Initiatives, and Marriage and Family Stabilization. This report summarizes the key findings of the workshop. (Author abstract)