The National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families released a tip sheet that promotes the building of strong parenting partnerships. This tip sheet reviews concepts of parenting styles, including parental responsiveness and parental demandingness.

How can programs advance the self-sufficiency and well-being of at-risk youth? This report attempts to answer this important question by presenting a research-based framework for efforts to help at-risk youth enter a career workforce trajectory and prepare to become well-functioning, self-sufficient adults. The framework presented is particularly relevant for youth who are or could be served by ACF programs—especially homeless youth, youth in the foster care system, and teen parents—but it may also apply to other programs. The framework suggests the possibility of using evidence-informed interventions to address two primary areas: youths’ resilience and human capital development. It suggests finding tailored solutions grounded in a trusting relationship between youth and program staff to help move youth toward both healthy functioning and economic self-sufficiency as they transition to adulthood. This report was written as part of the Youth Demonstration Development project being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and Chapin Hall Center for Children. (author abstract)

This Webinar from the National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families discussed why financial management is a critical healthy marriage and relationship skill. It explored useful tools and resources to help clients build assets and increase financial literacy, and discussed ways to help clients use these tools to increase self-sufficiency and strengthen relationships. Examples of helpful integration strategies for safety-net service providers were provided. This Webinar also provided an overview of new resources and products available from the National Resource Center.

Mathematica's family support experts recently completed the Building Strong Families (BSF) evaluation. Sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the project used a random assignment research design to test eight voluntary programs that offer relationship skills education and other support services to unwed couples who are expecting or have just had a baby. After three years, the study showed that BSF had no effect on the quality of couples' relationships and did not make them more likely to stay together or get married.

The National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) hosted a Webinar on August 23, 2012, that provided ideas and resources to help increase father involvement in schools and their children's education. Information was provided on various initiatives that have helped engage fathers and father figures, inspire children, reduce bullying, and generally improve the educational environment in order that men may become more involved in the lives of their children.

The Office of Planning, Research, & Evaluation (OPRE) released the report, "The Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation: Final Implementation Findings." This is the final report documenting the implementation by eight organizations of the yearlong, multi-component Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) program model of marriage and relationship education services. An earlier report, "The Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation: Early Impacts on Low-Income Families" presented findings on the impacts of SHM programs about 12 months after couples enrolled. This report presents information about implementation of the programs, the characteristics of couples who enrolled, and their participation in the programs. The project is being conducted by MDRC in collaboration with Abt Associates and other partners.

This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) hosted a Webinar that presented strategies and approaches you can use in your program to raise awareness and change behavior, and had an emphasis on working with men in a fatherhood context and empowering them to take these conversations to family, friends and community. Topics included: ways to raise fatherhood program participants' awareness of the realities of violent and controlling behavior and the negative impacts for children; emphasize communication, mutual understanding, and healing; and, ways to use fatherhood groups to reinforce the message and build mutual support systems to change behavior.

The Supporting Healthy Marriage (SHM) evaluation was launched in 2003 to test the effectiveness of a skills-based relationship education program designed to help low-income married couples strengthen their relationships and, in turn, support more stable and more nurturing home environments and more positive outcomes for children. The evaluation is led by MDRC, in collaboration with Abt Associates and other partners, and is sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The SHM evaluation includes a rigorous random assignment research design that compares outcomes for families who are offered SHM’s services with outcomes for a similar group of families who are not offered SHM services but can access other services in the community. The evaluation also includes this implementation study documenting how eight local programs delivered SHM’s services. The SHM program offers a voluntary, yearlong package of relationship and marriage education services for low-income married couples who have children or are expecting a child. The model has three complementary components: group workshops based on structured curricula; supplemental activities to build on workshop themes; and family support services to address participation barriers, connect families with needed resources, and reinforce curricular themes. This report presents final findings from the SHM implementation study, the characteristics of couples who enrolled, and their participation in the program.  (author abstract)