Healthy Marriage
“Children living in two-parent, married household do better in school, have fewer behavioral problems, and are more likely to have successful marriages of their own.”
-Yongmin Sun, “The Well-Being of Adolescents in
Households with No Biological Parents”
Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grants
The Healthy Marriage initiative is part of ACF’s strategy to enhance child well-being. ACF funded 60 organizations across the country to provide comprehensive healthy relationship and marriage education services, as well as job and career advancement activities to promote economic stability and overall improved family well-being.
The Healthy Marriage grantees can provide a range of activities including:
- Public advertising campaigns on the value of healthy marriages.
- Education in high schools on the value of marriage, relationship skills, and budgeting.
- Marriage and relationship skills programs that may include parenting skills, financial management, conflict resolution, and job and career advancement.
- Premarital education and marriage skills training for engaged couples and for couples or individuals who are interested in marriage.
- Marriage mentoring programs that use married couples as role models and mentors in at-risk communities.
- Divorce reduction programs that teach relationship skills.
- Programs to reduce the disincentives to marriage in means-tested aid programs, if offered in conjunction with any activity described above.
National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
The Resource Center (http://www.healthymarriageandfamilies.org) supports state and local safety net service providers as they integrate healthy marriage and relationship education skills into service delivery systems as part of a comprehensive, culturally appropriate, family-centered approach designed to promote self-sufficiency.
