Low Cost Marriage Education Curricula | Marriage Activists | Divorce: J Months - 1/8/08

[Smartmarriages]

- LOW COST CURRICULA
- ADVERTISING MARRIAGE : LICENSE PLATES, BUMPER-STICKERS, T-SHIRTS
- FACTOIDS YOU CAN USE: J-MONTHS ARE HIGHEST DIVORCE FILING MONTH

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- LOW COST CURRICULA

> Diane, 
> As a Healthy Marriage Initiative Specialist for the Administration for
> Children and Families, I am serving on a team that is compiling a list of free
> and low cost (under $200) marriage, fatherhood, and parenting curricula that
> could be used by community healthy marriage coalitions.  We are anticipating
> with the change of administrations that less money may be available for
> community healthy marriage initiative programming so are trying to be prepared
> to assist communities who may have limited funding sources. Do you already
> have such a listing? I know you mentioned that you will be compiling a listing
> of the TOOBs and FOOBS for the conference. I'll check those but can you also
> ask those on your list who have such curricula to EMAIL the information to me.
> Thank you.
>   
> Karen Elliott, PhD, CFLE
> HMI Specialist, Region VII
> Karen.Elliott at acf.hhs.gov

It's true that the TOOB and FOOB lists are your best bet on finding these
programs. TOOBs (Teach Out of the Box) are likely to be priced well under
$200. And, FOOBs (Free Online Out-of-the-Box) are FREE.  You can access
these lists in two ways at www.smartmarriages.com.

1) One route is to start on the homepage and click on Directory of Programs
and then click the various TOOB and FOOB categories:
http://www.smartmarriages.com/directory_browse.html

2) The other is to go to the conference page and then click on the TOOB and
FOOB lists near bottom of left column of conf info.  Note that these
conference lists are very much "under construction" because the 2008
conference workshop program is not final. So these lists are a mix of the
old (TOOB workshops from 2007) and the new - some already posted from 2008.
(However ignore the session workshop numbers....none are correct.)  And the
FOOB category is totally new this year, so is in development.
http://www.smartmarriages.com/conferencedetails.html

Also note that a program can be listed on the Directory of Programs TOOB or
FOOB list and not appear on the Conference TOOB or FOOB lists.  Not all
Toobs/Foobs will be presented at the 2008 conference.

I'm sure you'll hear from many program developers.  I know that a whole new
wave of TOOBs are in the development process.  Please share your list with
me and I'll add a new category to the Directory "Programs under $200". We
need to do everything we can do to make these programs easy to find - and
affordable.  

Note to the program developers who don't see their program in the proper
category on the Directory: LET ME KNOW.   If you have a TOOB and it's not
listed, I need to put it in that category.

FOOB programs, send me your link info so I can get these live and "hooked
up". - diane 


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- ADVERTISING MARRIAGE : LICENSE PLATES, BUMPER-STICKERS, T-SHIRTS

> Diane, 
> Here's my "marriage friendly" license plate:  2BCAM1  (although not everyone
> gets it...it was a little tough because I was limited to 6 characters)  And
> yes it IS accompanied by a SmartMarriages bumper sticker!  Along with one that
> says "I love (heart) my wife".  And of course my wife has "I love my husband"
> on her car.  We got these two (heart) bumper stickers from a Smart Marriages
> exhibitor "2 Becoming One".  And, our favorite T-shirt to wear at the mall is
> the "Married and Loving It"  shirts I got from another exhibit at the Atlanta
> Smart Marriages conference.  Great conversation starter!  (One lady asked me
> if my wife "made me" buy the shirt - I was happy to tell her that no, I bought
> them on my own!)
>  
> It definitely pays to advertise.  I try to wear our organization logo shirt as
> much as possible - it creates interest and opens opportunities to talk about
> marriage!
>  
> Lawrence Compter, Executive Director
> Marriage Alliance of Central Virginia
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- FACTOIDS YOU CAN USE: J-MONTHS ARE HIGHEST DIVORCE FILING MONTH

Sharing this as background in case there is occasion for your expertise.
Either proactively, call a journalist with this factoid as talking point on
what you have to offer to stem the tide, OR to be be ready if you're called.
Whether it's January or June, is not the point, the point is that we have
MANY solutions.   -diane

'Tis the divorce season
Divorce attorneys say January is one of the busiest months for filings
January 08, 2008
By CAROLYN RUSHEFSKY
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- For many couples, New Year's Day inspires the need to
begin a new life -- by filing for divorce.

January, according to several divorce attorneys interviewed by the Advance,
is the highest divorce-filing month.

"It's the month for people who deferred things over the holidays -- either
because they don't want to spoil the family's celebrations, or because they
feel they will be able to work things out over the holidays," said divorce
attorney Jay S. Baum, based in New Dorp.

But after the new year, the same marital problems are still there -- and
holiday bills become due, which also exacerbates existing tensions, Baum
said.

Manhattan-based divorce attorney Andrea Vacca has found, "The most popular
month for people to call a divorce lawyer to start the process of separating
or divorcing is definitely the month of January.

"I think it's caused by a combination of people waiting to get through the
holidays without causing too much upset for their families, as well as
making New Year's resolutions for themselves that they will not spend
another year in a bad marriage," Ms. Vacca said.

Divorce lawyer James Stewart, whose articles have appeared in The Times of
London, noted that Christmas often highlights the flaws in a relationship.

"Extra time together can force problems that already exist in the
relationship to come to a head," Stewart said. As a result, many people are
driven to file a divorce in January, after the holiday season. In fact,
yesterday marked "D-Day" -- "Divorce Day" -- in England, as more divorces
are expected to be filed on Jan. 7 there than on any other day of the year.

However, according to DivorcesYourself.com, an Internet company based in
Olympia, Wash., January ranks second as the month when most divorces are
filed, while June is No. 1.

"In our experience, people seem to decide to act upon a decision to divorce
more frequently in June, after school lets out," said a spokesman for the
company. "We believe that many couples with children want to get through the
current school year before undertaking the major life changes associated
with divorce. Acting in June affords parents and children the summer months
to adjust to new life circumstances."

Dongan Hills-based divorce attorney Anne-Louise DePalo noted that research
she did at the Richmond County Clerk's office last year tied a
higher-than-average surge in divorce filings to New Year's resolutions.

While January has a higher than average number of filings, "the highest
number occurs in the summer months, especially in July, perhaps because
children are out of school and summer is a time people usually slow down and
have a chance to think, as well as having more time to follow through," Ms.
DePalo said.

© 2008 Staten Island Advance