This report discusses findings from an evaluation of eight organizations that implemented the Building Strong Families (BSF) program, a program designed to teach relationship skills to unmarried, romantically-involved couples who were expecting or had recently had a baby. For the evaluation, over 5,000 interested couples were randomly assigned to either a BSF group that could participate in the program or a control group that could not. Data was collected on BSF's impacts on couples about 15 months after they applied for the program, focusing on the stability and quality of the couples'…
This report is a technical supplement to the 15-month impact report for the Building Strong Families (BSF) evaluation, a study that explored the effectiveness of providing services to improve the relationships of unmarried parents. It provides additional detail about the research design, analytic methods, and variable construction that were used for the 15-month analysis. Chapter 1 begins with an overview of the research design. It then describes BSF sample intake procedures, including eligibility determination and the random assignment process. The eight local BSF programs enrolled couples…
This report discusses the implementation of the Building Strong Families (BSF) program in eight organizations. The BSF project was launched in 2002 to develop, implement, and rigorously test voluntary interventions aimed at strengthening the families of unmarried couples with children. BSF programs were implemented by non-profit and public agencies at 12 locations in seven States, and enrolled more than 5,000 volunteer couples, who were randomly assigned by the BSF research team to an intervention or control group. The intervention featured up to 42 hours of multi-couple group sessions led…
Young adults are typically eager to learn about relationships and how to succeed in them. Some are considering engagement/marriage whereas others are looking for guidance on how to make smart choices when it comes to dating partners. With a rate of 3.5 divorces per 1,000 people, many young adults have experienced the break up of their parents and are fearful of that same fate. College students are desperate to have only one, happy marriage, and they don't know whether this is possible anymore.The college years bring the need to negotiate new life roles and relationships. These years in…
Although both men and women are involved in marriage, relationship matters are often considered the woman's domain. For practitioners offering marriage and relationship education (MRE), this general belief can often make engaging men in your program a challenge. Information is relatively sparse with regard to how men can be engaged in marriage education. There is research on men and commitment, and there are relatively frequent pop culture references to men and marriage regarding infidelity or gender roles, but very few resources are available for married men to support their relationship.…
Government touches the lives of families in many ways. Because of the complexity of governmental organizations, community- and faith-based organizations may be reluctant to partner with government, especially to deliver marriage/relationship education services (MRE). This guide is intended for practitioners who are familiar with operating an MRE program and are interested in exploring collaboration with government to expand the reach of their MRE program. In addition, this guide offers concrete strategies on 1) how to identify which areas of government are right for you to partner with and 2…
In May 2009, the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center (NHMRC) and the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV) co-sponsored the conference "Toward a Common Understanding: Domestic Violence Typologies and Implications for Healthy Marriage and Domestic Violence Programs" at the Airlie Conference Center in Warrenton, Virginia. The conference brought together a diverse set of 35 experts to critically examine the underlying research on different types of intimate partner violence (IPV) and consider their implications for practice. This guide summarizes the conference…
Low-income fathers should be a part of the family policy equation. Men are able to financially contribute to their children's well-being and help lift them out of poverty in the short term. They also provide care and emotional supports that can improve children's life outcomes and help break the cycle of poverty in the long term. Unfortunately, far too many low-income men, and especially men of color, face barriers to playing these roles in their children's lives. They are disproportionately disconnected from some extremely vital domains, and that harms them, their children, and families more…
Intended for court appointed special advocate volunteers and guardians ad litem, this guide offers practice tips for identifying and engaging fathers in cases involving child clients. It begins by describing the benefits of father involvement, including improving children's quality of life and providing children with adult connections. Barriers to father engagement are identified and a framework for involving fathers in children's lives is offered. Strategies discussed include: help to identify and locate the father, encourage the agency to find missing parents, assess whether the father…
This executive summary combines the collective research efforts of the RAND Corporation, PolicyLink, The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School and the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice Drexel University's School of Public Health and the Department of Emergency Medicine at Drexel University. It highlights how the neighborhoods where African-American and Latino boys and young men grow up directly influence their health outcomes, and points to the need for comprehensive, systems-based policy solutions implemented at the community level. (Author…
