Integrating Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) and Employment Services: Design Choices of Two HMRE Grantees

The Strengthening Relationship Education and Marriage Services (STREAMS) evaluation is a five-site, random assignment evaluation of HMRE programs funded by OFA, with evaluation sites selected from the current round of HMRE grantees. Two of the grantees participating in STREAMS operate programs that integrate HMRE and economic stability services. The STREAMS technical assistance team worked closely with both grantees to help refine and strengthen their original program designs by drawing on findings from prior research. This brief describes how the grantees are integrating HMRE and economic stability services, with the goal of increasing participants’ exposure to both types of services.

To integrate HMRE and economic stability services, the two grantees:

1. Used recruiting strategies to identify potential participants interested in both types of services
2. Adapted curricula to integrate HMRE and economic stability topics
3. Connected participants to one-on-one job and career advancement services

Integration strategies described in the brief are based on information gathered by the STREAMS technical assistance team during site visits and regular phone meetings with the grantees. Future reports from the STREAMS impact and process studies will describe how well these strategies worked in practice, yielding information that can be used to further refine the strategies to improve the delivery and effectiveness of HMRE programming.

Friend, Daniel and Diane Paulsell (2018). Integrating Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) and Employment Services: Design Choices of Two HMRE Grantees. OPRE Report #2018-51. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.