This Resource Guide was developed to support service providers in their work with parents, caregivers, and their children to prevent child abuse and neglect and promote child and family well-being. It was created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, its Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention. The resources featured represent the work of a broad-based partnership of national organizations, Federal partners, and parents committed to strengthening…
Strong, healthy families give their children the best chance at success in school and in life. The Family Goal-Setting Guide explores how strong partnerships can positively influence the goals families set in the Family Partnership Process. (Author abstract)
This report describes program design and implementation of two Healthy Marriage programs that are part of the Parents and Children Together evaluation: The Healthy Opportunities for Marriage Enrichment program from The El Paso Center for Children in El Paso, Texas; and the Supporting Healthy Relationships program from University Behavioral Associates in Bronx, New York. The report includes a focus on the job and career advancement services offered by the two grantees, and presents data on enrollment, initial participation, retention, and the amount of services couples received from July 2013…
This report provides detailed summaries of major research investments by OPRE's Division of Family Strengthening (DFS) along with brief overviews of past projects. The featured projects cover topics that include strengthening relationships within families, supporting fatherhood, nurturing children through their families, reducing teen pregnancy, and supporting youth in their transition to adulthood. The report also describes DFS's investments in activities to disseminate rigorous research on family strengthening topics to a diverse range of stakeholders including federal and state policy-…
Sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Building Strong Families (BSF) evaluation used a random assignment research design to test eight voluntary programs that offer relationship skills education and other support services to unwed couples who are expecting or have just had a baby. After three years, the study showed that BSF had no effect on the quality of couples' relationships and did not make them more likely to stay together or get married. (Author abstract)
Sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Building Strong Families (BSF) evaluation used a random assignment research design to test eight voluntary programs that offer relationship skills education and other support services to unwed couples who are expecting or have just had a baby. After three years, the study showed that BSF had no effect on the quality of couples' relationships and did not make them more likely to stay together or get married. (Author abstract)
This report is a technical supplement to the 36-month impact report for the Building Strong Families (BSF) evaluation (Wood et al. 2012). It provides additional detail about the research design (Chapter I), analytic methods (Chapter II), and variable construction (Chapters III, IV and V) that were used for the 36-month analysis. Chapter VI of this report provides a discussion of the subgroup analysis that was conducted. Chapter VII discusses the treatment-on-the-treated (TOT) impact analysis, an analysis of BSF's effects on couples who actually attended BSF group sessions. The full set of…
Family and child well-being is vital to the health of America's neighborhoods and communities. Recognizing this fact when reauthorizing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program in 2005, Congress appropriated $150 million to support demonstration programs in the areas of healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood. Managed by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF), these initiatives were designed to have a broad reach, including marriage and relationship education services for married and engaged couples. Of the 116…
In 2006, the Administration for Children and Families Office of Family Assistance (OFA) awarded Healthy Marriage (HM) and Responsible Fatherhood (RF) grants to a variety of organizations offering a diverse range of programming. The funded organizations were required to work within a framework of guidelines, including target populations and allowable activities. However, as demonstration initiatives, program design was intentionally flexible to encourage creativity in approach; offering deeper insight into which organizational structures, implementation strategies and service delivery models…
This report pulls from the experience of 15 organizations, whose specific focus is delivering services to high school-age youth, to summarize their common experiences and evaluation findings. It also focuses on how these programs were designed and structured to reach high school-age youth, according to information provided by organizations. The suggested influence of these demonstration programs is highlighted through quotes and links to video clips of the experiences of youth and program operators. Information on the program operations of all 15 grantees is included and supplemented by…
