Hilton - going, going....? / Marriage Stories ONLINE/ State legislation overview/ Reform Divorce Campaign - 5/1/08

[Smartmarriages]

- HEADS UP ON HILTON
- A NEW MARRIAGE EDUCATION TOOL: READ FREE ONLINE FOR 24HRS ONLY!!
- WHAT STATES ARE DOING: OVERVIEW
- REFORM DIVORCE CAMPAIGN

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- HEADS UP ON HILTON

It's May 1st and the SF Hilton just called to tell me we have only 65 rooms
left at $115 rate.  PLEASE don't get shut out.  The entire conference is
held at the Hilton and it's nice to stay at the mother ship.  PLUS you will
not find a rate like this ($115 single/double) anywhere in the city. Once
the $115 block of rooms is sold out, there is nothing I can do to help you.

CALL: 800-445-8667 and ask for the Smart Marriages rate at the SF Hilton on
O'Farrell Street. 

Share with your colleagues - at least with the ones you like.

**ALSO, if you made your reservations a while ago and have since changed
your travel plans, now would be a good time to call and trim your Hotel
reservations back to fit your actual arrival and departure dates:
800-445-8667.   

Diane 

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- A NEW MARRIAGE EDUCATION TOOL: READ FREE ONLINE FOR 24HRS ONLY!!

The National Healthy Marriage Institute (NHMI) just completed a marriage
education product called Ounce of Prevention: Short Stories to Keep Your
Marriage Healthy and Happy. Marriage education principles are woven into
each of the fictional stories and each includes a worksheet to help
Readers implement the lessons in their relationships.

The collection is a great supplemental resource for any marriage education
Class and is also a perfect anniversary gift.

For the next 24 hours readers of the Smart Marriages List Serv will have
FREE access to read all six of the short stories. Just go to
http://www.HealthyMarriageTips.com/FreeAccess.htm

You can also go to 
http://www.HealthyMarriageTips.com/OunceOfPreventionBook.htm to learn
more about the book.

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- WHAT STATES ARE DOING: OVERVIEW

> Diane,
> Kudos to Smart Marriages for providing a centralized "feeding trough" for news
> of what the states are doing (and not doing) to strengthen marriages.  I teach
> a class to counseling majors at Dallas Theological Seminary called "Counseling
> and Law" and assigned a paper on this topic.  Then I posted the best one on my
> blog which can be sampled by clicking on
> 
http://leejagers.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/legislature-can-strengthen-marriages>
/
> Another class assignment was to bookmark Smart Marriages.
> 
> Keep up the good work.

> Dr. Lee Jagers
> Director of Counseling Services
> Dallas Theological Seminary


This provides an interesting look at what some states are doing.  It leaves
out Marriage Education Legislation passed in Minnesota, Tennessee, Georgia,
Maryland and the Divorce Education Legislation passed in Louisiana, Georgia,
Tennessee, Utah and doesn't mention the great promise of TANF set-asides and
legislation in Texas, Georgia, NY, AL, etc - but is helpful.  I'll post a
link to this from the legislation page.

I especially like the marriage class photo that includes the baby front and
center and Lee's intro:

No, you can¹t legislate morality. But let¹s not push that too far.

No, a brief class to instruct couples on the principles of good marriage
won¹t spin them around on a dime. But let¹s not discount the value of
education either.

Laws can support good social institutions or they can allow those
institutions to deteriorate. Laws can safeguard the building blocks that
strengthen that society. State legislatures across the US are wrestling with
innovative ways to strengthen marriage. Smart Marriages has been encouraging
them to do even more. I asked my ³Counseling and Law² class at Dallas
Theological Seminary to write a paper describing what¹s going on in this
area currently. Elaine Charles did a good job, I think, so I share her paper
with you. It¹s an informative read.

STATE MEASURES THAT STRENGTHEN MARRIAGES
http://leejagers.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/legislature-can-strengthen-marriag
es> 
- diane 

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- REFORM DIVORCE CAMPAIGN

Speaking of legislation, I sent the press release for this Divorce Reform
campaign to the list April 16 but you are encouraged to visit the website
which ads new material on a daily basis. -diane

> Diane,
> Please encourage your list subscribers to revisit our new Reform Divorce
> website. Ignore the stuff at the top and go directly to the questions on the
> side.  Each questions is linked to 1-3 pages that are designed to motivate
> those who have had a divorce they did not want, or who lived through a
> parental divorce - to realize that the problem is with a law that allows one
> person to unilaterally divorce another.  In 4 out of 5 cases, one spouse does
> not want the divorce and has it forced upon them.  I outline two reforms that
> could slash the divorce rate in half in any state.
> Michael McManus

Divorce Reformers, plan to attend the workshop in San Francisco:

> 516 - Friday, July 4, 2:30pm
> Divorce Reform Legislation Strategies
> David Prince, JD, Mike McManus, David Levy, JD
> Three concepts: reintroduction of mutual consent or fault divorce; presumption
> of joint custody; and TANF set-asides for marriage & divorce education, have
> the potential to slash family breakdown by 50%.