Building Strong Families Program

The Building Strong Families Program (BSF) is part of the Healthy Marriage Initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, "to learn whether well-designed interventions can help couples fulfill their aspirations for a healthy relationship, marriage, and a strong family."[1]

Between 2002-2011, "BSF programs were implemented by non-profit and public agencies at 12 locations in seven states, and enrolled more than 5,000 volunteer couples ... The intervention featured up to 42 hours of multi-couple group sessions led by trained facilitators, focusing on skills that, according to earlier research, are associated with relationship and marital stability and satisfaction."[1]

The ten-year program was implemented through a contract by the Administration for Children and Families with Mathematica Policy Research.[2]

Major study questions of the Building Strong Families Project included:[1]

Rationale

"Strengthening relationships and increasing fathers' involvement have emerged as central national policy strategies to improve the lives of low-income families and enhance the well-being of children. We are conducting studies to increase understanding about how to help low-income couples solidify their relationships, engage fathers more fully, and create the best environments in which to raise children ... [our] 10-year Building Strong Families demonstration is testing whether workshops on communication and relationship skills, combined with social supports, can help unwed parents stay together, manage conflict, maintain intimacy, increase the degree to which fathers are involved in their children’s lives, and improve children’s early development. The study is using a rigorous random assignment design and includes more than 5,000 couples in seven states. A report released in May 2010 provides short-term results on BSF’s impacts on couples after about 15 months, focusing on the stability and quality of the couples’ relationships."[2]

Impact report

BSF 15-Month Impact Report

In May 2010, Mathematica reported findings from a 15-month follow-up of program and control group participants:

Impact debate

Scholars offered different perspectives on the findings:

A study from Harvard's Kennedy School reported: "In general, at the time of the 15-month follow-up the BSF intervention did not have a statistically or substantively significant effect on couples‘ relationship status or quality, or fathers‘ involvement with their children. Although the BSF had little or no effect on couples‘ relationships overall, impacts varied meaningfully across the eight evaluation sites; for example, the Oklahoma City site‘s BSF program had a consistent pattern of positive effects at 15 months. Perhaps most surprisingly, however, at the Baltimore site the BSF intervention had numerous negative effects: at the time of the 15-month follow-up survey, Baltimore couples who had been randomly assigned to participate in the BSF program were much less likely than control group couples to be romantically involved; fathers assigned to the BSF program were less likely to provide substantial financial support for their children or see them regularly; and mothers in the BSF sample were more likely to report experiencing a severe physical assault than were mothers in the control group."[4]

In an article for RH Reality Check, Joseph DiNorcia wrote, "The evidence is unmistakable: there’s just no amount of government coaxing that will make unmarried couples want to, as Beyoncé would say, 'put a ring on it.' A new report from Mathematica Policy Research, Inc, shows that the relationship skills education programs implemented by the Administration for Children and Families have, with a few exceptions, no effect on participants. These programs provide 'education' and support services to unmarried, low-income, heterosexual couples with newborn babies, and are among the marriage-promotion projects which had been enthusiastically touted by the Bush administration as a magic pill for poverty and unstable families."[5]

Scott Stanley, Ph.D. and Frank Fincham, Ph.D., two leading researchers in the field of Marriage and Relationship Education (MRE), attributed the impact findings to flaws in program implementation, arguing: "A summary from the BSF study that marriage/relationship education (MRE) does not work is not tenable, in our view. In addition to studying many other aspects of program and delivery, BSF really became more of a study of participation rates than of the impacts of MRE and other program elements. The main reason is that, in many sites, the 'dose' of MRE that couples received was quite low. In fact, in some sites, only 40% of couples ever attended even one session together."[6]

BSF Study Sites

Location Curriculum Couples Enrolled (3/31/07) Percent of Couples Completing 80% or More of Program Approximate Cost Per Couple Approximate Total Cost
Atlanta, GA (English) Loving Couples, Loving Children
388
23%
$8,836
$3.4 million
Atlanta, GA (Spanish) Loving Couples, Loving Children
73
40%
$8,836
$.6 million
Baltimore, MD Loving Couples, Loving Children
384
12%
$11,278
$4.3 million
Baton Rouge, LA Loving Couples, Loving Children
308
30%
$8,852
$2.7 million
Broward County, FL Loving Couples, Loving Children
235
3%
$14,169
$3.3 million
Orange County, FL Loving Couples, Loving Children
319
7%
$14,169
$4.5 million
Allen County, IL Loving Couples, Loving Children
59
20%
$12,095
$.7 million
Lake County, IL Loving Couples, Loving Children
45
0%
$12,095
$.5 million
Marion County, IL Loving Couples, Loving Children
139
15%
$12,095
$1.7 million
Oklahoma City, OK Becoming Parents
294
40%
$11,149
$3.3 million
Houston, TX Love's Cradle
220
3%
$10,112
$2.2 million
San Angelo, TX Love's Cradle
219
12%
$12,607
$2.8 million

BSF Curricula

Curriculum Developer Couples Per Group Curriculum Hours
Loving Couples, Loving Children John and Julie Gottman
4-6 couples
42
Love's Cradle Mary Ortwein and Bernard Guerney
6-8 couples
42
Becoming Parents for Low-Income, Low-Literacy Couples Pamela Jordan (Prep, Inc.)
10-15 couples
30

"Loving Couples Loving Children (LCLC) is a curriculum developed by John and Julie Gottman especially for low-income couples who are expecting a child. John Gottman is world-renowned for his scientific work identifying the predictors of relationship success and failure, while Julie Gottman is a master clinician who provides advanced training in marriage education and couples therapy ... To engage and retain the interest of low-income couples, they substantially modified the presentation of the material by developing a series of video 'talk shows' in which racially and ethnically diverse low-income couples discuss relationship issues. Each of the forty-two sessions in LCLC begins with such a talk show, which leads to a lively discussion among group participants. In these unscripted shows real couples, not actors, describe the challenges they have faced in their relationship and how they overcame them. The second half of each group session is devoted to activities that teach specific skills and techniques that couples can use to address the issues raised in the video. Participants practice skills with their partners during the session, with individual attention from the male and female co-facilitators, as needed."[7]

"Love's Cradle is based on the well-established Relationship Enhancement (RE) program, adapted and supplemented by new material developed especially to address issues identified by researchers as crucial barriers to positive family formation in fragile families. Created by Mary Ortwein, a marriage and family therapist with experience serving low-income families, and Bernard Guerney, the original developer of RE, Love's Cradle relies on a simplified and more culturally sensitive version of Relationship Enhancement taught at the fifth-grade level, and adds content to the standard RE skills. The simplified version avoids psychological jargon and teaches skills at a slower pace, with greater access to individual skills coaching. Love's Cradle consists of twenty-one two-hour group sessions. Ten sessions, most at the beginning of the program, are devoted to the simplified RE skills. Additional sessions allow couples to use their new skills to address the issues indicated by research to be common to low-income couples, including how to build, rebuild, and maintain trust; deal with multiple- partner fertility; manage emotions; work as a team on money matters; and reframe their understanding of marriage. Love's Cradle was field-tested with low-income couples and will be part of the Building Strong Families national evaluation."[7]

"The Becoming Parents Program (BPP) curriculum, developed by Dr. Pamela Jordan, focused on three areas: (1) communication, problem-solving, friendship, and fun; (2) self-care and anger management; and (3) infant care and development. To meet BSF requirements, BPP was adapted to include material relevant for low-income families. The information on communication, problem-solving, friendship, and fun was largely drawn from the PREP curriculum. Skills included using a 'speaker–listener' technique, establishing ground rules, identifying hidden issues, and maintaining friendship and fun in the relationship. The focus on self-care and anger management included such strategies as using time-out to prevent escalation. Material was adapted from the Stop Anger and Violence Prevention program and the Domestic Conflict Containment Program."[8]

Publications

"Catalog of Research: Programs for Low-Income Couples," Mathematica Policy Research, May 2012.[8]

"The Effects of Building Strong Families: A Healthy Marriage and Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents", Wood, Robert G., et al., Spring 2012.[9]

"BSF's Effects on Couples Who Attended Group Relationship Skills Sessions: A Special Analysis of 15-Month Data," May 15, 2011[10]

"The Building Strong Families Project: Initial Implementation of a Couples-Focused Employment Program," October 15, 2010[11]

"Strengthening Unmarried Parents' Relationships: The Early Impacts of Building Strong Families Executive Summary," May 10, 2010.[12]

"Effects of Employment on Marriage: Evidence from a Randomized Study of the Job Corps Program," December 17, 2008.[13]

"Implementing Healthy Marriage Programs for Unmarried Couples with Children: Early Lessons from the Building Strong Families Project," July 17, 2006.[14]

Supporting Healthy Marriage Project: "The first large-scale, multisite, multiyear, rigorous test of marriage education programs for low-income married couples." The project is motivated by research that "indicates that married adults and children raised by both parents in stable, low-conflict households do better on a host of outcomes."[15]

During this period, Paul Peluso, Ph.D. Assistant Professor at Florida Atlantic University, and others conducted several studies on the impact of brief marriage and relationship education classes for PAIRS Foundation. Findings differed significantly from those of the Building Strong Families study.

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Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 3 U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation.
  2. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-08-13. Retrieved 2010-08-13. Mathematica Policy Research website.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-20. Retrieved 2012-11-23. Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Wood, Robert G., et al., "The Building Strong Families Project," May 2010
  4. ↑ Clarkwest, Andrew; Killewald, Alexandra; Wood, Robert. "Stepping up or Stepping Back: Highly Disadvantaged Parents' Responses to the Building Strong Families Program," Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, May 23, 2012.
  5. ↑ DiNorcia, Joseph. "Building Strong Families Found Completely Ineffective," RH Reality Check, August 25, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Comments from Dr. Scott Stanley and Dr. Frank Fincham on the Building Strong Families Study," National Association of Relationship and Marriage Educators, July 2010.
  7. 1 2 Dion, Robin M. "Healthy Marriage Programs: Learning What Works," Marriage and Child Wellbeing, Volume 15, Number 2, Fall 2005.
  8. 1 2 "Catalog of Research: Programs for Low-Income Couples," Mathematica Policy Research, May 2012.
  9. ↑ "The Effects of Building Strong Families: A Healthy Marriage and Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents", Wood, Robert G., et al., Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Volume 31, Issue 2, pages 228–252, Spring 2012.
  10. ↑ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
  11. ↑ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
  12. ↑ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
  13. ↑ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
  14. ↑ "Implementing Healthy Marriage Programs for Unmarried Couples with Children: Early Lessons from the Building Strong Families Project," U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
  15. ↑ Manpower Development Research Corporation, MDRC
  16. ↑ Paul Peluso, Ph.D., Seth Eisenberg, Rachel Schindler. "Impact of Brief Marriage and Relationship Education Classes on Dyadic Adjustment," PAIRS Foundation, July 2011.
  17. ↑ Paul Peluso, Ph.D. "Relationship Education and Singles: Impact on Symptom Distress, Social Roles & Isolation," PAIRS Foundation, March 2011.
  18. ↑ PAIRS Foundation, May 5, 2010.
  19. ↑ Amanda Falciglia, Rachel Schindler. "Marriage Education Increases Relationship Satisfaction," PAIRS Foundation, April 14, 2010.
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