Office of Family Assistance
Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant

Allowable Activities: Public advertising campaign (#1); Education in high schools on the value of marriage (#2); Marriage education, marriage skills and relationship skills programs for non-married pregnant women and non-married expectant fathers (#3); Pre-marital education and marriage skills training for engaged couples and for couples interested in marriage (#4); marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs for married couples (#5); divorce reduction programs that teach relationship skills (#6); and marriage mentoring programs which use married couples as role models and mentors in at-risk communities (#7).

Organization Description: Family Guidance, Inc. will be the lead agency for a coalition of regional non-profit agencies, calling itself “TWOgether Pittsburgh,” to strengthen marriages. Coalition members include: The Center for Urban Biblical Ministry, The National Fatherhood Initiative, evaluator Dr. Stanley Denton, The Women’s Center and Shelter of Pittsburgh, and Smith Brothers Advertising.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: The program grant funds will be used to create healthier, more viable marriages by using the PREPARE/ENRICH, PREP, and PAIRS curricula. Anticipated results include serving 1000 to 1500 couples and individuals in pre-marital programs, 1500 to 2000 individuals in marriage enrichment, 200 couples in marriage mentoring, 250 couples in divorce reduction programs, and 500 to 600 high-school aged students.

Office of Family Assistance
Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant

Allowable Activities: Public advertising campaign (#1); education in high schools on the value of marriage (#2); marriage education, marriage skills, and relationship skills programs for non-married pregnant women and non-married expectant fathers (#3); pre-marital education and marriage skills training for engaged couples and for couples interested in marriage (#4); marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs for married couples (#5); divorce reduction programs that teach relationship skills (#6); and marriage mentoring programs which use married couples as role models and mentors in at-risk communities (#7).

Organization Description: Cecil County Government (CCG), in Maryland, will provide coordination with community partners in the county to form the Cecil County Healthy Marriage Initiative. CCG will be responsible for start-up activities, marketing, staff employment, supervision, project monitoring, recordkeeping and evaluation. Collaborators include: Cecil County Department of Social Services, Healthy Marriage Initiative Council, Domestic Violence Center, Cecil Community College, Human Services Development Council, Cecil County Public Schools, Boys and Girls’ Club, Salvation Army, and Marriage Savers. CCG has participated in the development, implementation, administration and evaluation of similar projects for many years.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: Outreach for the project will be targeted to persons ages 13-25; of the 97,796 person population in the county, 16,244 are in this age range. Planned activities include: a media campaign, a marriage summit, marriage skills training, enrichment weekends, divorce reduction sessions, mentoring and celebrations of marriages.

Office of Family Assistance
Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant

Allowable Activities: Public advertising campaign (#1); pre-marital education and marriage skills training for engaged couples and for couples interested in marriage (#4); marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs for married couples (#5); divorce reduction programs that teach relationship skills (#6); and marriage mentoring programs which use married couples as role models and mentors in at-risk communities (#7).

Organization Description: Aish HaTorah of DC is an “international educational organization dedicated to bringing the wisdom of Judaism into the everyday lives of all people.” It’s a non-profit organization, whose main focus is education. Aish HaTorah of DC created the BLISS Marriage Enrichment Seminar, an interactive, multi-media PowerPoint presentation.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: BLISS is an 8 hour seminar, which is presented in 4 two-hour sessions. Participants will walk away with 10 skill-sets following the seminar, which include: effectively and positively communicating with your spouse, conflict resolution techniques, intimacy, etc. The project expects to serve approximately 500 couples for the first year and a total of 23,546 people over the course of 5 years.

Office of Family Assistance
Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant

Allowable Activity: Marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs for married couples (#5).

Organization Description: Nueva Esperanza, Inc. was founded in 1987 to strengthen the Latino community by raising awareness of issues that affect them through the participation in community organizations, churches and ministries. There are currently two regional offices located in New York and California and the organization is also active in the Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia and Seattle.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: The Marriages of Hope Program intends to provide marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs to low-income married couples. The goal of the Marriages of Hope program is for the couples who are being served to sustain and improve their marriages in spite of challenges. Objectives of the program include providing culturally relevant marriage enhancement training and training congregational couples to serve as marriage mentors. Activities include implementation of the marriage curriculum, marriage workshops, a marriage enrichment retreat and a marriage mentoring program.

Office of Family Assistance
Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant

Allowable Activity: Marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs for married couples (#5).

Organization Description: Granato Counseling Services, Inc., which is also known as The Granato Group, is a woman-owned professional counseling and consulting service established in 1999. The organization has developed its own trademarked relationship education program, FIT Relationships, and that curriculum has been used by Friendship Public Charter School and the US Air Force. Additionally, The Granato Group has worked with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Emergency Management Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Education by providing counseling services.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: The Healthy Marriage Education program will provide marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs to low-income married couples. Some of the goals of the organization are to help couples enhance marital friendship, build emotional connections, manage conflict and learn active listening skills. The Granato Group will provide marriage education through 10 sessions of the FIT Curriculum, booster sessions, family social events, and marriage coaching sessions.

Allowable Activity: Marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs for married couples (#5).

Organization Description: The Children’s Aid Society in Clearfield County was established in 1985 as a way of offering adoption services in 14 counties in central and western Pennsylvania. Since that time the organization has expanded its services to include parenting programs and serves as a child care facility. The Children’s Aid Society in Clearfield County will also partner with two local organizations to successfully implement their curriculum.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: The Healthy Marriage Program plans to serve low-income married couples by providing them with marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs. Some of the program’s main objectives of the program include helping couples improve communication skills, improve problem-solving skills and improve satisfaction within their marriage. Additionally, the program will have three levels of marriage education services based on participant’s schedules and other factors (transportation and childcare) as well as couples events to encourage retention in the marriage education sessions.

Allowable Activity: Marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs for married couples (#5).

Organization Description: Community Services for Children, Inc. has successfully operated the Family Formation and Development project and also developed an in course curriculum in 2003. The organization has over 40 years of experience serving low-income families and has staff that are qualified to over see the funds related to this grant.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: Funds for this grant will provide low-income married couples with marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs. Community Services for Children plans to serve 150 couples in its first year. Some of the objectives of the program are to strengthen healthy relationships between married couples whose children are enrolled in the Head Start Program and to enhance the organization’s Healthy Relationships and Marriage Education Course. The main activity will be 15 8-week marriage skills and enhancement sessions. In addition, the program will provide couple’s with relationship resources and an environment in which couples can talk through problems that may have arose during the week with a facilitator. Expected outcomes include at least 80% of couples having improved their communication skills and their decision-making skills.

Office of Family Assistance
Health Marriage Demonstration Grant

Allowable Activity: 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 (#3).

Organization Description: The Bethany Christian Services of VA is a non-profit organization based in Fairfax, Virginia. They have a network based within the most populated cities in Virginia (Fredericksburg, Richmond, Charlottesville, and Fairfax) to reach out and provide critical social services to low-income people.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: The Bethany Christian Services of VA plans to provide 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 father. They will use the “Marriage Savers” curriculum as a cultural model to essentially reach out to 75 couples per year by teaching with a classroom style environment. In addition, they will deploy seasoned couples with 10-15 years of marriage to mentor these couples.

Office of Family Assistance
Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant

Allowable Activity: 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 (#3).

Organization Description: The Salvation Army, a New York Corporation is a non-profit organization with a network within the city of Philadelphia, PA. The program’s target population will consist of low-income, non-married pregnant women, non-married fathers, and non-married new parents from the Latino communities in Philadelphia, ages 20 through 29.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: The Salvation Army, a New York Corporation plans to provide 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. They will use a pilot program as a model to essentially reach out to 100 couples per year by implement the Devotion Program. In addition, the program will use the “Love’s Cradle” curriculum to enhance participants’ relationship skills.

Office of Family Assistance
Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant

Allowable Activities: Education in high schools on the value of marriage, relationship skills and budgeting (#2) and marriage education, marriage skills and relationship skills program that may include parenting skills, financial management, conflict resolution, and job and career advancement for non-married pregnant women and non-married expectant fathers (#3).

Organization Description: Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America (OICA) was founded in 1964 by the late Reverend Leon H. Sullivan and 400 African-American ministers. OICA’s mission is to lead the nation in providing quality education and training services through a national network of local affiliates that enable economically disadvantaged people of all backgrounds to become more productive members of society. OICA was a co-convener of the HHS African American Healthy Marriage Initiative.
In 2004 OICA released a culturally relevant youth marriage curriculum called Keys to a Healthy Marriage, designed for youth ages 12-18. The curriculum is currently being implemented and evaluated in 25 U.S. cities.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: OIC plans to provide education in high schools on the value of marriage relationship skills and budgeting, and to provide marriage education, marriage skills, and relationship skills programs for non-married pregnant women and non-married expectant fathers. They expect to serve 1500 high school youth and 50 expectant women and unmarried fathers using the “Keys to a Healthy Marriage” and “PREP Within My Reach”and “Within our Reach” curriculums. The program includes 50 hours of instruction and support services over 12 weeks.

Office of Family Assistance
Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant

Allowable Activities: Public advertising campaigns on the value of marriage and the skills needed to increase marital stability and health (#1).

Organization Description: Boat People, SOS (BPSOS) is a national community-based organization with 26 years of service to refugees from Indochina that make up more than half of all refugees resettled to the U.S. since 1975. BPSOS has 20 programs serving approximately 10,000 clients a year. The organization is divided into four service departments: Community Development, Health and Mental Health Services, Family Services and Survivor Services. The Family Services Department, which monitors this grant, provides substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention, after-school activities for youth, adult ESL and computer training, teen pregnancy prevention, and marriage and family wellness.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: Boat People SOS plans to provide a public advertising campaign on the value of marriage and the skills needed to increase marital stability and health. They hope to reach 30% of the 1.5 million Indochinese by the end of the first year and 50% over 5 years. The ultimate goal of this project is to build a healthy marriage and family enrichment movement among Indochinese communities nationwide that will increase knowledge and effect attidudinal as well as behavioral changes with regard to a healthy marriage and family enrichment among the 1.5 million Indochinese Americans. Individuals reached are expected to have increased awareness of issues covered by the project and learn basic skills to manage their marriage, mitigate risk factors, and maintain family health.

Office of Family Assistance
Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant

Allowable Activities: Public advertising campaigns on the value of marriage and the skills needed to increase marital stability and health (#1) and marriage enhancement and marriage skill training programs for married couples (#5).

Organization Description: Northwood-Appold United Methodist Church (NAUMC) is located in Baltimore, Maryland and has been providing essential social support services to its members and community residents for many years. NAUMC was funded in 2005 to launch Marriage Education Leadership Development (MELD) which was later renamed MESLD. MESLD has proven to be successful in engaging couples in a series of marriage education sessions. Participants collectively agreed that having the opportunity to incorporate lessons learned helped alleviate the challenges they face in maintaining a successful marriage.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: Northwood-Appold United Methodist Church plans to provide public advertising campaigns on the value of marriage and the skills needed to increase marital stability and health as well as provide marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs for married couples. They will support married couples in their quest to have strong marriages resulting in healthier families and community through MESLD training (formerly named Marriage Education Leadership Development- MELD), public relations, and special activities including a marriage rededication ceremony and a marriage community fair. The public relations campaign will center around the theme of “Marriage Works.” It is expected that 100 married couples will be served the first-year.

Office of Family Assistance
Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant

Allowable Activities: Education in high schools on the value of marriage, relationship skills and budgeting (#2) and marriage mentoring programs, which use married couples as role models and mentors in at-risk communities (#7).

Organization Description: Through a developmentally sound curriculum, the programs of the Best Friends Foundation have provided long-term outreach to adolescents that teach the value of marriage and the importance of abstaining from premarital sex. Since 1987, the Foundation has used its experience and success to create lasting behavioral change in predominately African-American communities across the country.

Use(s) of ACF Program Grant Funds: Best Friends Foundation plans to provide education in high schools on the value of marriage, relationship skills, and budgeting as well as, implement marriage mentoring programs, which use married couples as role models and mentors in at-risk communities. 1,476 students will be served as to measurably increase the number of high school students who can articulate the benefits of marriage, measurably decrease the trends of unwed pregnancies and out-of-wedlock births, measurably increase the number of teenagers who see marriage as a viable life option, and measurably increase the number of teenagers who want to get married. Marriage… The Best Choice for the Best Future- Diamond Girls and Best Men Leadership curriculum will be used during 2.5 hour classes held on Saturdays for 471 Diamond Girls and 205 Best Men Leaders in the Washington, DC; Charlotte, NC; Newark, NJ; and Milwaukee, WI. in 43 high schools.