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Healthy Marriage Matters
Background
Research suggests that children who grow
up in healthy married, two-parent families do better on
a host of outcomes than those who do not. Further, many
social problems affecting children, families, and communities
could be prevented if more children grew up in healthy,
married families. Examples of social science findings include:
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Married couples seem to build more
wealth, on average, than singles or cohabiting couples,
thus decreasing the likelihood that their children will
grow up in poverty.
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Children who live in a two-parent,
married household enjoy better physical health, on average,
than children in non-married households.
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Healthy marriages reduce the risk
of adults and children either perpetrating, or being
victimized by, crime.
Congress acknowledged the importance of married-couple
families when it reformed the welfare system in 1996.
The 1996 legislation stipulated that three out of the
four purposes of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) program either directly or indirectly promote healthy
marriages. President Bush echoed this sentiment when he
indicated that healthy marriages would be a focus of his
administration. In proclaiming National Family Week in
November 2001, he noted:
“My Administration is committed to strengthening
the American family. Many one-parent families are also
a source of comfort and reassurance, yet a family with
a mom and dad who are committed to marriage and devote
themselves to their children helps provide children a
sound foundation for success. Government can support families
by promoting policies that help strengthen the institution
of marriage and help parents rear their children in positive
and healthy environments.”
ACF Healthy Marriage
Initiative
The Healthy Marriage Initiative is about
helping couples, who have chosen marriage for themselves,
gain greater access to marriage education services, on a
voluntary basis, where they can acquire the skills and knowledge
necessary to form and sustain a ealthy marriage. In practical
terms, it involves:
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Enrolled as Agreed to or
Passed by Both House and Senate)
SEC. 7103. GRANTS FOR HEALTHY MARRIAGE PROMOTION
AND RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD.
(a) Healthy Marriage and Family Funds- Section 403(a)(2)
(42 U.S.C. 603(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
`(2) HEALTHY MARRIAGE PROMOTION AND RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD
GRANTS-
`(i) USE OF FUNDS- Subject to subparagraphs (B)
and (C), the Secretary may use the funds made available
under subparagraph (D) for the purpose of conducting
and supporting research and demonstration projects
by public or private entities, and providing technical
assistance to States, Indian tribes and tribal organizations,
and such other entities as the Secretary may specify
that are receiving a grant under another provision
of this part.
`(ii) LIMITATIONS- The Secretary may not award funds
made available under this paragraph on a noncompetitive
basis, and may not provide any such funds to an
entity for the purpose of carrying out healthy marriage
promotion activities or for the purpose of carrying
out activities promoting responsible fatherhood
unless the entity has submitted to the Secretary
an application which--
`(aa) how the programs or activities proposed in the
application will address, as appropriate, issues of
domestic violence; and
`(bb) what the applicant will do, to the extent relevant,
to ensure that participation in the programs or activities
is voluntary, and to inform potential participants that
their participation is voluntary; and
`(II) contains a commitment by the entity--
`(aa) to not use the funds for any other purpose; and
`(bb) to consult with experts in domestic violence or
relevant community domestic violence coalitions in developing
the programs and activities.
`(iii) HEALTHY MARRIAGE PROMOTION ACTIVITIES- In
clause (ii), the term `healthy marriage promotion
activities' means the following:
`(I) Public advertising campaigns on the value
of marriage and the skills needed to increase
marital stability and health.
`(II) Education in high schools on the value of
marriage, relationship skills, and budgeting.
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`(III) Marriage education, marriage skills, and
relationship skills programs, that may include
parenting skills, financial management, conflict
resolution, and job and career advancement, for
non-married pregnant women and non-married expectant
fathers.
`(IV) Pre-marital education and marriage skills
training for engaged couples and for couples or
individuals interested in marriage.
`(V) Marriage enhancement and marriage skills
training programs for married couples.
`(VI) Divorce reduction programs that teach relationship
skills.
`(VII) Marriage mentoring programs which use married
couples as role models and mentors in at-risk
communities.
`(VIII) Programs to reduce the disincentives to
marriage in means-tested aid programs, if offered
in conjunction with any activity described in
this subparagraph.
`(B) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR DEMONSTRATION
PROJECTS FOR COORDINATION OF PROVISION OF CHILD WELFARE
AND TANF SERVICES TO TRIBAL FAMILIES AT RISK OF CHILD
ABUSE OR NEGLECT-
`(i) IN GENERAL- Of the amounts made available
under subparagraph (D) for a fiscal year, the
Secretary may not award more than $2,000,000 on
a competitive basis to fund demonstration projects
designed to test the effectiveness of tribal governments
or tribal consortia in coordinating the provision
to tribal families at risk of child abuse or neglect
of child welfare services and services under tribal
programs funded under this part.
`(ii) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS- A grant made
pursuant to clause (i) to such a project shall
not be used for any purpose other than--
`(I) to improve case management for families
eligible for assistance from such a tribal program;
`(II) for supportive services and assistance
to tribal children in out-of-home placements
and the tribal families caring for such children,
including families who adopt such children;
and
`(III) for prevention services and assistance
to tribal families at risk of child abuse and
neglect.
`(iii) REPORTS- The Secretary may require a recipient
of funds awarded under this subparagraph to provide
the Secretary with such information as the Secretary
deems relevant to enable the Secretary to facilitate
and oversee the administration of any project
for which funds are provided under this subparagraph.
`(C) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR ACTIVITIES PROMOTING
RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD-
`(i) IN GENERAL- Of the amounts made available under
subparagraph (D) for a fiscal year, the Secretary
may not award more than $50,000,000 on a competitive
basis to States, territories, Indian tribes and
tribal organizations, and public and nonprofit community
entities, including religious organizations, for
activities promoting responsible fatherhood.
`(ii) ACTIVITIES PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD-
In this paragraph, the term `activities promoting
responsible fatherhood' means the following:
`(I) Activities to promote marriage or sustain
marriage through activities such as counseling,
mentoring, disseminating information about the
benefits of marriage and 2-parent involvement
for children, enhancing relationship skills, education
regarding how to control aggressive behavior,
disseminating information on the causes of domestic
violence and child abuse, marriage preparation
programs, premarital counseling, marital inventories,
skills-based marriage education, financial planning
seminars, including improving a family's ability
to effectively manage family business affairs
by means such as education, counseling, or mentoring
on matters related to family finances, including
household management, budgeting, banking, and
handling of financial transactions and home maintenance,
and divorce education and reduction programs,
including mediation and counseling.
`(II) Activities to promote responsible parenting
through activities such as counseling, mentoring,
and mediation, disseminating information about
good parenting practices, skills-based parenting
education, encouraging child support payments,
and other methods.
`(III) Activities to foster economic stability
by helping fathers improve their economic status
by providing activities such as work first services,
job search, job training, subsidized employment,
job retention, job enhancement, and encouraging
education, including career-advancing education,
dissemination of employment materials, coordination
with existing employment services such as welfare-to-work
programs, referrals to local employment training
initiatives, and other methods.
`(IV) Activities to promote responsible fatherhood
that are conducted through a contract with a nationally
recognized, nonprofit fatherhood promotion organization,
such as the development, promotion, and distribution
of a media campaign to encourage the appropriate
involvement of parents in the life of any child
and specifically the issue of responsible fatherhood,
and the development of a national clearinghouse
to assist States and communities in efforts to
promote and support marriage and responsible fatherhood.
`(D) APPROPRIATION- Out of any money in the Treasury
of the United States not otherwise appropriated, there
are appropriated $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2006 through 2010, for expenditure in accordance with
this paragraph.'.
(b) Counting of Spending on Certain Pro-Family Activities-
Section 409(a)(7)(B)(i) (42 U.S.C. 609(a)(7)(B)(i)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
`(V) COUNTING OF SPENDING ON CERTAIN PRO-FAMILY ACTIVITIES-
The term `qualified State expenditures' includes the
total expenditures by the State during the fiscal
year under all State programs for a purpose described
in paragraph (3) or (4) of section 401(a).'.
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