Grant Award: Missouri Head Start Healthy Marriage Initiative Program - 9/29/07

[Smartmarriages]

This is the only one I've heard about and that was because it was in the
newspaper.  If anyone else wants to share their good news, email me. I'm
told we'll have a complete list out of ACF sometime next week. - diane


Families in region to benefit from $1 million federal grant
Harold-Whig 
September 29, 2007
By Ann Pierceall

HANNIBAL, Mo. ‹ Douglass Community Services plans to begin a five-year, $1.3
million program to strengthen marital success among the low-income families
served by its Head Start Program.

The Head Start Healthy Families Project has been awarded $1.06 million in
federal grant money from the nationwide Head Start Healthy Marriage
Initiative Program. Another $240,000 will be matched by Douglass Community
Services and other partners.

The project will be designed to offer services to low-income families who
are at higher risk for relationship difficulties and face issues that serve
as "significant barriers" to marriage and marital success.

"We know children do best when they're in families with married couples and
those relationships are stable and healthy. And low-income families are at
the highest risk for relationship difficulties," said Linda Bleything, DCS's
Head Start director.

Bleything said on average only 32 percent of DCS's Head Start families ‹ the
agency serves 470 children in eight counties ‹ involve married parents.

"Right now with the focus on marriages at the national level, they really
want to look at how marriage benefits children. It's something that came in
with the Bush administration ... a focus on marriage and the belief or
knowledge that when a marriage is healthy and stable then the children do
much better not only financially but socially and physically, just in every
way," Bleything said.

The project will use a specific curriculum that's been in use for some time,
but not often applied to low-income families. Sessions will include topics
such as fun and friendship, things to do together as a family,
speaker-listener techniques, stress management, and dealing with feelings
and personality conflicts.

Bleything said at the end of each session, the parents and children will
come together to work on an activity. Recruiting families will start soon,
with the project expected to begin in February.

Dave Dexheimer, executive director for DCS, said the search has started for
three new staff to run the project, which will eventually be operating in
all of DCS's eight counties. Year one it will be started in Marion and Ralls
counties; year two will bring it in Macon and Randolph counties; and year
three will bring the addition of Pike, Lewis, Shelby and Monroe counties.

"Head Start is more than just an education program. We've always worked
directly with families on barriers to educational needs. One of the biggest
concerns is family life," Dexheimer said.

He said in 2007, 343 of DCS Head Start families were headed by single
parents with no committed partner.

"It really cuts down on the family's ability to motivate the child. We're
hoping by improving the family relationship the impact will be pretty
substantial ... to help that child feel more secure, improve self esteem,
all those things that have a tendency to inhibit a child," he said.

Another component of the project will be to work with youth age 14-19 to
help them learn how to make good relationship decisions.


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