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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, Sept. 25, 2006
Contact: ACF Press Office
(202) 401-9215
New Report Shows Most Unwed Parents in Program
Interested in Healthy
Marriage
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released a new report on ACF’s Building Strong Families (BSF) marriage education project. The report shows that unwed parents in the BSF program are interested in marriage education programs that will help them build the necessary skills to form and sustain a healthy marriage.
“This report indicates unwed parents surveyed in this program are interested in healthy marriages,” said Wade F. Horn, Ph.D., HHS assistant secretary for children and families. “Very soon, more couples who are interested in building marriage skills will get some help as the Bush Administration will award the first-ever grants under the newly authorized healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood program.”
The report documents early lessons in BSF pilot demonstrations at sites in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma and Texas from early 2005 to early 2006. The report’s findings include:
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Across the sites at enrollment, 46 percent of mothers and 52 percent of fathers indicated they were “almost certain” they would marry their current partner. Another 26 percent of mothers and 27 percent of fathers said they had a “pretty good chance” of marrying their current partner;
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All sites succeeded in enrolling couples in BSF projects. Forty-six percent of couples were enrolled during pregnancy and 54 percent were enrolled shortly after the birth of their child;
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Engaging couples in group sessions was challenging although, once couples began attending, they generally tended to keep coming;
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Forty-five percent of couples who began participating attended 15 or more sessions and more than two-thirds attended eight or more sessions.
The report, entitled “Implementing Healthy Marriage Programs for Unmarried Couples with Children: Early Lessons from the Building Strong Families Project,” was written by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. under contract to ACF. It also presents information on participants’ views of the programs and their perceptions of what they learned. The report indicates overall couples responded positively to the programs, valued the group format and learning from other couples’ experiences and demonstrated a basic understanding of what they had been taught.
On Feb. 8, 2006, President Bush signed a bill reauthorizing welfare reform, which appropriates $150 million annually for the next five years for healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood programs.
To view “Implementing Healthy Marriage Programs for Unmarried Couples with Children: Early Lessons from the Building Strong Families Project,” go to: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/strengthen/build_fam/reports/implementing_healthy/impl_title.html.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at www.hhs.gov/news