The crucial importance of including work with individuals ...... 9/25/08

Thu Sep 25 14:13:04 EDT 2008

- REDUCING CHILD POVERTY BY SUPPORTING MARRIAGE
- WORKING WITH INDIVIDUALS IN YOUR COMMUNITY HEALTHY MARRIAGE INITIATIVES
- THE DIRECTORY: SUGGESTIONS ?

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- REDUCING CHILD POVERTY BY SUPPORTING MARRIAGE

(Caps added for emphasis - diane)

Robert Rector's opening testimony this morning at the Joint Economic
Committee Hearing:

Reducing Child Poverty by Reducing Non-marital Childbearing

Currently, 38 percent of all children born in the U.S. are born
out-of-wedlock. Out-of-wedlock births commonly occur to the least educated
women in society. Most non-marital births occur to women in their early
20¹s, only 15 percent occur to girls under 18. Virtually no non-marital
pregnancies are due to a lack of access to birth control.

Around half of the women who have non-marital births are co-habiting with
the father at the time of birth. Another quarter are in a romantic
relationship with the father. Both the mother and the father tend to have
positive attitudes toward marriage, but do not regard being married or
having a stable relationship as an important pre-condition to having
children.

Contrary to popular perceptions, nearly all the non-married fathers-to-be
are employed; on average, their earnings are higher than the mothers¹. The
earnings of the father are sufficient to have a strong potential
anti-poverty effect on the mother and child. In fact, if poor single mothers
married the fathers of their children, almost three-quarters would
immediately be lifted out of poverty.14

Unfortunately, without marriage and commitment, most non-married fathers
leave the mother a few years after the child¹s birth.

The DECLINE OF MARRIAGE is a major contributing factor to high levels of
child poverty. 

Because healthy marriage has very strong positive economic and social
effects, policies should be undertaken to strengthen the culture and
practice of marriage in low income communities. (Some argue it is sufficient
to promote ³fatherhood² rather than marriage, but to have a significant
economic and social impact the father must be consistently present in the
home over the long term. This is extremely unlikely in absence of marital
commitment.)

To promote healthy marriage, government should include steps to reduce the
anti-marriage penalties embedded in means-tested welfare programs. It should
also offer life skills training to help young, low income couples plan more
realistically for the challenges of conception, childbirth and child
rearing. Voluntary education and counseling should be offered to young adult
women at risk of non-marital pregnancy and childbearing with a focus on
HELPING THE MOTHER UNDERSTAND THE BENEFITS OF COMMITMENT
AND MARRIAGE to children and adults. This service could be offered through
REFERRALS** from current Title X birth control clinics which provide
contraceptives to over four million low income, young adult women each year.
PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGNS ABOUT THE VALUE OF MARRIAGE in low income
communities where marriage has deeply eroded could also prove helpfulŠ

14 Robert E. Rector, Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., Patrick F. Fagan, and Lauren R.
Noyes, ³Increasing Marriage Would Dramatically Reduce Child Poverty,²
Heritage Foundation Center for Data Analysis Report No. CDA0306, May 20,
2003.

Full hearing Leave No Family Behind: How Can We Reduce the Rising Number of
Americans Families Living in Poverty?
at 
http://jec.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.HearingsCalendar&Content
Record_id=963f5a18-d753-62b1-c690-0ad3cae36db9

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- WORKING WITH INDIVIDUALS IN YOUR COMMUNITY HEALTHY MARRIAGE INITIATIVES

**NOTE: Robert Rector has long advocated Title X birth control clinics as
the most obvious source for referrals to reach one of our most important
target: low income single-parent mothers. The clients at these clinics are
either already single parent mothers, know someone who is, or are those we
can help prevent from becoming single-parents.  As Scott Stanley and Howard
Markman argued in their San Francisco keynote, "Let's Get Real: Teaching
Marriage Education to Individuals" we must get real and meet people where
they're at or we'll never turn this thing around. I'm sure there is such a
clinic in your community.  Call today and make the connections.

I just talked to Gena Ellis at First Things First Chattanooga who is
teaching overflow classes of low-income single mothers using an adaptation
of the How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk curriculum.  And I just listened to the
recording of the Doing Time workshop where Kelly Sigler explains how she is
teaching Prep, Jerk, and a Stepping Together for Stepfamilies to inmates -
teaching to individuals - to enthusiastic, over-subscribed classes.

There are all sorts of programs suitable for teaching to individuals - Third
Option welcomes one or the other spouse/partner to attend their sessions;
Within My Reach is getting great responses teaching to low-income single
parents; PAIRS has always welcomed singles.

If your curriculum has been designed or adapted for teaching to INDIVIDUALS
and it's not listed in this section on the Directory of Programs let me know
so I can make that edit.
http://www.smartmarriages.com/app/Directory.BrowsePrograms#type_49

Order the above mentioned recordings on MP3 Download, CD, DVD at
http://www.iplaybacksmartmarriages.com/
Or at 800-241-7785 

> #757-715
> Relationship Skills: Doing Time
> Judge Jim Sheridan, JD, MBA, John Van Epp, PhD, Kelly Sigler
> Ex-offenders with successful intimate relationships are less likely to
> re-offend. Learn about teaching PREP and Pick-A-Partner skills to inmates and
> how to sell this idea to local officials.

> 757-P-5 
> Let's Get Real: Marriage Education for Individuals
> Howard Markman, PhD, Scott Stanley, PhD
> Although Marriage Education has traditionally focused on working with couples,
> it is increasingly obvious that there are a an extraordinary number of
> opportunities >  and obligations  to provide preventive education to
> individuals. New data and service models provide an idea of the exciting
> potential on the Marriage Education horizon.

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- THE DIRECTORY: SUGGESTIONS ?
http://www.smartmarriages.com/app/Directory.BrowsePrograms
I know it's confusing.  If anyone can send suggestions for how to reorganize
the Directory - all suggestions WELCOME.  -diane

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13th Annual Smart Marriages® Conference, Shingle Creek Resort,
Orlando, Florida, July 6-12, 2009 (General Conference July 8-11)
Pre-Conference Training Institutes July 6-8
Post-Conference Training Institutes July 12

Shingle Creek Resort: http://www.rosenshinglecreek.com/

Conference schedule, registration, & exhibit information will be posted as
it becomes available at:
http://www.smartmarriages.com/conferencedetails.html

List your program and resources on the Directory of Classes at
http://www.smartmarriages.com/directory_browse.html

Order conference audio & video CD/DVD/MP3s: 800-241-7785 or
http://www.iPlaybackSmartMarriages.com

Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education, LLC (CMFCE)
Diane Sollee, Director
5310 Belt Rd NW, Washington, DC 20015-1961
http://www.smartmarriages.com
202-362-3332