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Region 10 - Seattle

The Healthy Marriage Initiative


History

In 1996 under welfare reform Congress recognized the importance of the institution of marriage for preserving and increasing the well being of children, therefore Congress stipulated that three of the four purposes of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to states be either directly or indirectly related to promoting healthy marriages. In the current welfare reauthorization debate, Congress is considering setting aside up to $200 million a year in federal funds to help couples form and sustain healthy marriages. In order to prepare for potential funds communities have begun to create Healthy Marriage Initiatives and provide marriage education services for dating, pre-marriage, engaged, and married couples.

Since the creation of the Healthy Marriage Initiative other marriage initiatives have emerged that meet the community, cultural, and linguistic needs of certain populations such as the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative (AAHMI) and the Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative (HHMI).

Region 10 Activities

  • Nampa, Idaho was the recipient of an 1115a Child Support Enforcement Waiver used to provide marriage education services to the community.
  • Lakewood and Yakima, WA have applied for an 1115a Child Support Enforcement Waiver to provide marriage education services to the community.
  • Children's Home Society of Tacoma received a Children's Bureau grant for post-adoption marriage education services.
  • Portland has an Office of Refugee Resettlement grant that is providing marriage education services to refugees.
  • The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) has received an Administration for Native American grant for compiling national information on what resources are available for marriage education/family strengthening in tribal communities and identifying ways relationship skills are communicated.
  • Other parts of the region have agencies or leaders that are interested in beginning a marriage initiative in their community.

Get Involved

Contact Lewissa Swanson at 206-615-2573 to:

  • Add your faith-based or community organization to the Region 10 Healthy Marriage contact database. This database includes people and organizations that are providing marriage education services, interested in marriage and family strengthening activities, and to find out about funding or technical assistance resources.
  • Ask a question about getting involved with a Healthy Marriage Initiative in Region 10 or starting your own.
  • Find out more about the different types of marriage education initiatives that are specific to the community, cultural, and linguistic needs of certain populations, like the African American Healthy Marriage Initiative (AAHMI) and the Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative (HHMI).

Resources

Official ACF Healthy Marriage website

Other Resources

http://nccic.org/poptopics/marriage.pdf [PDF]
Annotated Bibliography of Web Resources on Healthy Marriage Initiative created by the National Child Care Information Center.