Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood

This webpage provides resources to support TANF programs in supporting positive outcomes for families by providing strategies to align and partner with Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) programs.
Young daughter with her mother, father and dog, enjoying together in park.
Research-To-Practice Brief

In light of welfare reform, HHS has devoted funds to the Healthy Marriage Initiative. Because of the debate surrounding marriage education, this article seeks to answer what exactly is marriage education and if it is working. Marriage is seen to…

Research-To-Practice Brief

From the National Governor's Association, Center for Best Practices, this article reviews marriage education programs across States, which seek to ultimately improve outcomes for families and children. Research shows that children raised in, two-…

Report

This report presents the findings of a groundbreaking large-scale national study of mothers' beliefs and concerns. A representative sample of more than 2,000 mothers of children under the age of 18 were asked what they think and feel about…

Journal Article

This article describes the HHS ACF effort to focus on programs that strengthen marriages, and ultimately, improve child well-being, and provides information on and links to recent studies that reflect the large-scale research agenda of the ACF.…

Research-To-Practice Brief

This policy brief explores the question of creating policies to encourage marriage in terms of TANF. The general agreement is made that federal and state policies should not penalize marriage. It explores the effect of TANF program rules on…

Report

Authored by Jennifer Ehrle Macomber, Julie Murray, and Matthew Stagner. This Urban Institute report highlights key components of current marriage education programs, identifies opportunities and challenges for expanding services into other…