$119 million in Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood grants awarded by HHS’ Administration for Children and Families

A total of 113 grant awards to 100 organizations across 30 states to promote healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood was announced by the Office of Family Assistance (OFA), at HHS’ Administration for Children and Families. This funding represents a 33 percent increase in the number of grants in operation throughout the 2015-2020 cohort. The grant awards will help individuals, couples, fathers and youth build strong relationships to support families and communities.

Awards were made under three distinct funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) designed to build and sustain healthy relationships and marriages, and to strengthen positive father-child interaction. Projects funded under the Family, Relationship, and Marriage Education Works (FRAMEWorks) FOA will provide marriage and relationship education services along with other services, such as job and career advancement, to adult participants (age 18 and older).

Projects funded under the Fatherhood Family-focused, Interconnected, Resilient, and Essential (Fatherhood FIRE) FOA will integrate robust economic stability services, healthy marriage education, and activities designed to foster responsible parenting for adult fathers (age 18 and older)—including fathers reentering from incarceration to their communities and families.

Finally, projects funded under the Relationships, Education, Advancement, and Development for Youth for Life (READY4Life) FOA will provide a broad array of healthy marriage promotion services, including education on the value of marriage in future family formation as well as skills-based healthy relationship and marriage education, to youth and young adults (ages 14-24).

“The healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood legislation provides the only federal funding dedicated to two pillars of a healthy and vibrant society: marriage and fatherhood,” said OFA Director Clarence H. Carter “These projects will continue our efforts to strengthen marriage for those who choose it for themselves, support fathers dedicated to the health and well-being of their children and families, and help youth prepare to grow into socially and emotionally healthy adults. Together, these represent concrete action following the lodestar, the guiding force, to creating and sustaining stronger families, fostering or enhancing vibrant communities and building a strong society.”

These grants, administered by OFA, must have procedures in place to address issues of domestic violence and child abuse and neglect, and they must ensure that program participation is voluntary.

Grant funding by program:

• FRAMEWorks - 30 grants were awarded for a total of $35,472,377
• Fatherhood FIRE - 58 grants for a total of $59,316,854
• READY4Life - 25 grants for a total of $24,116,963

ACF is continuing to implement a robust healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood learning agenda that focuses on expanding the knowledge base to continue improving programming and increase positive outcomes for individuals, couples, families, and children.

As encouraged by ACF during the grant competition, many grantees will provide comprehensive services to participants, including attention to the importance of job and career advancement, economic stability and job-driven employment.

The $119 million in grants are part of an appropriation established by Congress to promote healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood. Additional funds under the appropriation support research, a responsible fatherhood clearinghouse,Tribal TANF, child welfare grants (as authorized under the legislation), training and technical assistance for all grantees and administrative costs.

View the list of grantees and their respective funding amounts (PDF).