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Implementing Healthy Marriage Programs for Unmarried Couples with Children: Early Lessons from the Building Strong Families Project

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    TITLE PAGE

    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

    TABLES

  1. INTRODUCTION

    DEMONSTRATION AND EVALUATION

    OVERVIEW OF REPORT

    1. THE BSF PROGRAM MODEL

      1. Marriage and Relationship Skills Curricula
      2. Family Support Services
      3. Family Coordinators

    2. THE PILOT SITES

    3. FUTURE OF THE BSF EVALUATION

  2. IMPLEMENTATION APPROACHES

    1. OVERVIEW OF BSF PILOT PROGRAM SETTINGS

    2. INTEGRATING BSF INTO AN EXISTING PROGRAM

      1. How BSF Was Embedded in the Existing Infrastructure
      2. Challenges Encountered with the Embedded Approach

    3. ADDING BSF SERVICES TO A MULTI-PROGRAM AGENCY

      1. How BSF Was Added to the Organizations’ Other Family Services
      2. Challenges Involved in Adding BSF to the Services of a Multi-Program Organization

    4. CREATING BSF PROGRAMS FROM THE GROUND UP

      1. How the BSF Program Was Created from the Ground Up
      2. Challenges in Creating a BSF Program From the Ground Up

    5. EXPERIENCES WITH STAFFING AND TRAINING

      1. Staffing Strategies
      2. Staff Training

    6. LESSONS AND IMPLICATIONS

  3. RECRUITING COUPLES

    1. BSF RECRUITMENT STEPS

    2. RECRUITMENT SOURCES AND OUTREACH METHODS

    3. VARIATION IN DIMENSIONS OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS

      1. Nature of the Initial Encounter with BSF
      2. The Timing of Recruitment Relative to the Course of Pregnancy
      3. Setting of the First Encounter
      4. Meeting Parents Together or in Sequence
      5. Focus of the Message: Couples or their Children?
      6. Approach to Screening for Domestic Violence

    4. RECRUITMENT RESULTS

      1. Recruitment Yield from the Intake Process
      2. Characteristics of Enrolled Couples

    5. LESSONS AND IMPLICATIONS

  4. PROGRAM PARTICIPATION

    1. HOW BSF SITES ENGAGED THE PARTICIPATION OF COUPLES

    2. EARLY PARTICIPATION RESULTS

      1. Participation Rates
      2. Intensity of Participation
      3. Participation Patterns Across Time
      4. Reasons for Nonattendance

    3. LESSONS AND IMPLICATIONS

  5. REACTIONS

    1. INITIAL RELUCTANCE TO ATTEND GROUP SESSIONS

      1. Participants’ Concerns
      2. What Helped to Reduce Participants’ Concerns

    2. ACTIVE PARTICIPATION DURING GROUP SESSIONS

      1. Participant Engagement in the Group Activities
      2. Participant Views of Learning in a Couples’ Group Format

    3. PARTICIPANTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF WHAT THEY LEARNED AND HOW THIS AFFECTS THEIR RELATIONSHIPS

      1. Communication, Problem Solving, and Conflict Management
      2. Self-Awareness, Connection, and Commitment
      3. Parenting and Child Development
      4. Application of Relationship Skills to Daily Interaction

    4. SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS

      1. Summary
      2. Implications for Program Implementation

    6. REFERENCES

    APPENDIX A: SESSION CONTENT FOR CURRICULA



 

 

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