A healthy relationship can play a critical role in establishing family stability for both adults and children. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on families nationwide with reports of higher rates of stress and declining marriages. Understanding the importance of healthy relationships in promoting economic stability among TANF recipients, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) awards Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) grants for a variety of programs working to integrate skills-based relationship education into employment services. During this June 28, 2022 OFA webinar, HMRE grantees and subject matter experts discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marriage and relationships. Webinar participants learned numerous ways HMRE grantees are engaging clients in programming such as family stability, healthy relationships, and economic security; explored how HMRE grantees adjusted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how their clients benefited from the pandemic adaptations; and heard about how these grantees will utilize lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to improve future efforts.

Webinar speakers included: Nikkole Abbas, Director of Family Support and Advocacy Services, Youth and Family Services of South Dakota; Robert Ketchum, Data Manager/Adult Educator, Youth and Family Services of South Dakota; and Mariana Falconier, Associate Professor of Family Science in the School of Public Health and Project Director of the University of Maryland’s TOGETHER program. The webinar was moderated by Robyn Cenizal, Project Director, Family Strengthening, ICF.

Healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) programs for youth aim to improve young people’s understanding of romantic relationships and prepare them to have healthy romantic relationships in adolescence and adulthood. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief summarizes the impact literature on these programs. The brief describes HMRE programs for youth, including the types of services they offer, how they are structured, the populations they serve, and their effectiveness.

The Office of Family Assistance has awarded and overseen federal funding for four cohorts of healthy marriage (HM) and responsible fatherhood (RF) grant programs (2006-2011, 2011-2015, 2015-2020, and 2020-2025). The HM grantees promote healthy marriage and relationships through eight legislatively authorized activities, such as marriage and relationship education and development of skills for job and career advancement. RF grantees’ legislatively authorized activities promote responsible parenting, healthy marriage, and economic stability. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief shares what was learned after visits with grantees about factors that have helped or hindered successful implementation of the 2015-2020 cohort of grantees, focusing on approaches to staffing programs and working with partners.

This annotated bibliography offers resources to practitioners and researchers within the Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) field that may help them adapt, develop, and test new or refined strategies for working with diverse groups of youth, including those who have faced adversity. These populations include youth aging out of foster care, those who are or have been involved with the juvenile justice system, those who are parents, and those who are or have experienced homelessness.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report examines the initial impact of two versions of the Relationships Smarts PLUS program, delivered primarily to 9th graders at two Atlanta-area high schools. The two versions of Relationship Smarts PLUS were either a full 12-lesson 18-hour version, or an 8-lesson 12-hour format (designed specifically for this study). Key questions in the report pertain to the impact of HMRE on students’ relationship skills, attitudes, and knowledge beyond the end of the course and the influence on students of shortening an HMRE program.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report is a case study of how the University of Florida’s ELEVATE program transitioned from a five-session, in-person Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education program to virtual delivery as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report covers how the shift impacted staff training, participant recruitment and enrollment, program facilitation, participant retention strategies, and staff supervision and support.

Through a partnership with Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) initiatives, the Office of Family Assistance is excited to offer the opportunity to receive compliance support and technical assistance on strengthening employment outcomes for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants by integrating new and effective approaches for meeting various needs of families within the TANF system. This TANF HMRF learning community is a great opportunity to listen and engage with peers and learn new and innovative ways of integrating employment and relational skills into TANF programs. 

The Family Routes Initiative seeks to engage with TANF programs interested in integrating evidence-based HMRF practices. Participants will have access to tools and information for integrating these strategies throughout programs, especially ways to integrate soft skills, goal setting, self-regulation, accountability, and personal responsibility into programs to improve employment outcomes and promote stable families. 

The initiative promotes the dissemination and application of HMRF program research conducted by ACF to other programs that serve fathers, families, and children. By participating in this initiative, participants will learn how to adapt HMRF practices to their unique program context.

 What’s involved?

• Learn, connect, and try out new ideas without funding or reporting requirements
• Apply practical, low- or no-cost adaptations in your program
• Contribute your experiences to guide the development of effective HMRF practices for TANF recipients

Why participate?

• Peer collaboration: join a network of TANF programs to share experiences, challenges, and approaches
• Tailored support: receive guidance and support that fit unique needs (no one-size-fits-all approach)
• Flexible time commitment: participate in monthly virtual group sessions from July to October 2025, with optional additional office hours and one-on-one support

Interested in learning more? Attend an informational webinar on June 26, 2025 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET to learn more about the Family Routes Initiative – no preparation or prior commitment is required.

Questions? Contact familyroutes@deloitte.com.

Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Programs (HMRF) programs are part of the Administration for Children and Families strategy to help interested adults and youth build stronger relationships, marriages, fathers, child engagement, and families.

HMRF programs help accomplish several of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program’s key purposes, including promoting marriage, encouraging the formation and maintenance of two parent families, promoting employment, and providing support for children to be raised in their homes or the homes of relatives. In this podcast episode, listeners will learn more about HMRF programs and how states are utilizing TANF funds to support HMRF work.

The crisis of marriage and family formation involves both economic and complex social factors. Children raised in non-intact families face numerous disadvantages, including higher poverty rates, poorer educational outcomes, and increased exposure to violence and substance abuse as compared to their peers with intact families. This Institute for Family Studies report focuses on family dynamics in Texas, identifies barriers to marriage and family formation, and proposes a pro-family policy agenda for the state.