HMI Highlights

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Building Lasting Relationships, StrongFamilies, and Community Services

Highlights ofthe Healthy Marriage Initiative

in Oregon: 2006–11



2

Acknowledgements and Author Note

This brief Highlights document tells the story of a demonstration project, Greater Portland Healthy

Marriage Initiative, from the viewpoint of the independent evaluator. It will be available online atwww.nwfs.org/couples-a-singles.html. A longer version of this story, with references and appendices,

titled The Story of the Healthy Marriage Initiative in Oregon: 2006—11 will be available on request from

[email protected].

Preparation of this document was sponsored by Northwest Family Services, a nonprot organization

based in Portland, Oregon. Photo credits and credits for information from ofcial documents go to the staff

members and leaders of this project at Northwest Family Services (NWFS). Thanks also are extended to

project team members from the Multnomah County Health Department and Catholic Charities in Portland

and to all the individuals and couples who participated, especially those who voluntarily completed the

questionnaires necessary for the program evaluation. Northwest Family Services (NWFS) was the lead

agency. NWFS worked with the Multnomah County Health Department (MCHD) and Catholic Charities

of Oregon (CC). MCHD was primarily responsible for providing marriage education classes in high

schools and to pregnant and parenting teens. CC was primarily responsible for providing services in the

community to pregnant and parenting teens as well as those considering marriage and married couples.

NWFS, in addition to overall leadership, provided for the majority of marriage education programs for

couples and for individuals in the community considering marriage, through a program called, “Lasting

Relationships.”

This Healthy Marriage Initiative (HMI) demonstration project was made possible and nancially

supported in part by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) under the Ofce of Population

Affairs (OPA) and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), through Grant

No. 90FE0079, awarded to Northwest Family Services. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily

reect the policies of ACF or of DHHS, and no ofcial endorsement by ACF, OPA, or DHHS should be

inferred. The opinions expressed, and any errors, are entirely the responsibility of the authors.

Suggested Citation:

Tobin, T. J., and Fuller, R. (2011). Highlights of the Healthy Marriage Initiative in Oregon: 2006–11.

Portland, OR: Northwest Family Services & Eugene: University of Oregon, College of Education.

Address correspondence to Tary J. Tobin, PhD, Educational and Community Supports, 1235 University of

Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-1235 USA; or e-mail [email protected] or to Rose Fuller, executive director

of Northwest Family Services, 6200 SE King Rd, Portland OR 97222 USA; or e-mail [email protected].

An equal-opportunity, afrmative-action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with

the Americans with Disabilities Act. This publication will be made available in accessible formats upon

request. ©2011 University of Oregon DES1111-123o



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Table o Contents

Preface 4

Moving from Hope to Action 5Allowable Activities Dened 6

The First Year (2006–7) 7

The Second Year (2007–8) 8Best Practices Follow-Up Survey in the Second Year 9

The Third Year (2008–9) 10

The Fourth Year (2009–10) 12

The Fifth Year (2010–11) 13Final Year Ends with Plans for Next Project! 14

Summary of All Five Years and Overall Lessons Learned 15Important and Consistent Changes in Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior 15

Looking to the Future 16



4

On June 6, 2005, the Federal Register published this

announcement:

The Ofce of Planning, Research and Evaluation

(OPRE), within the Administration for Children and

Families (ACF), announces the availability of funds

to support new research under the Healthy Marriage

Research Initiative. The purpose of this program is

to stimulate and fund short- and long-term studies

focused on healthy marriage in population groups for

which a limited body of research exists. This means,

primarily, lower-income individuals and couples,

including but not limited to those in poverty, as well

as ethnic and racial minority groups. Federal funding

under this announcement will be approved to support

research and evaluation activities only, not program

operation or service provision.

In his book, Audacity of Hope, President Barack

Obama described the reasons for marriage education

programs:

Children living with single mothers are ve

times more likely to be poor than children in

two-parent households. Children in single-parent

homes are also more likely to drop out of school

and become teen parents, even when income is

factored out. And the evidence suggests that onaverage, children who live with their biological

mother and father do better than those who live

in stepfamilies or with cohabiting partners. . .

. In light of these facts, policies that strengthen

marriage for those who choose it and that

discourage unintended births outside of marriage

are sensible goals to pursue. . . . Preliminary

research shows that marriage education

workshops can make a real difference in helping

married couples stay together and in encouraging

unmarried couples who are living together to

form a more lasting bond. Expanding access to

such services to low income couples, perhaps inconcert with job training and placement, medical

coverage, and other services already available,

should be something everybody can agree on.

(Obama, 2006, p. 334).

Fortunately, the lessons learned from the ve-

year project to be described in this document can be

applied to a new project that will be starting soon,

one of the Community-Centered Healthy Marriage and

Relationship Grants that support “healthy marriage

promotion activities” as enacted by The Claims

Resolution Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-291), which was

signed into law by President Obama on December 8,

2010. Primary goals are to nd ways to reduce barriers

to economic self-sufciency faced by individuals,

couples, or partners, and families by teaching healthy

marriage and relationship skills designed to change

behaviors of individuals. (See www.acf.hhs.gov/

grants/open/foa/view/HHS-2011-ACF-OFA-FM-0193).

The announcement stated that the new effort will

support programs that have the capacity and proven

track record of providing a broad range of marriage

and relationship skills training to low-income

populations. One such program is Northwest Family

Services’ Lasting Relationships. As we prepare

to move forward as a nation with new efforts to

improve relationship skills and to strengthen healthy

marriages, we should take time to review the lessons

learned from past efforts and to see how these will be

useful as we plan for future efforts.

Preace



5

Moving rom Hope to Action

Before the ve-year Healthy Marriage Initiative

(HMI) project started, it was necessary to write a

proposal. Hope had to lead to action! Decisions

had to be made about all aspects of how to provide

programs that might really make a difference. This

meant gathering information through reviewing

literature, searching theInternet, and speaking with

individuals who might be able to contribute. Letters

of support and memorandums of agreement had to be

gathered. Requirements of the federal funder had to

be studied. Technological details related to preparing

and submitting a grant proposal had to be mastered.

Deadlines had to be met.

When the news of the award came, as eager as all

project team members were to get started, additional

work was needed before full implementation could

be achieved. Contracts and agreements had to be

formalized ofcially. Informed consents had to be

developed in English and Spanish and approved

by the University of Oregon’s Institutional Review

Board (IRB). Strategies for marketing the services

to ensure attracting the intended participants had

to be developed, tested, and put in place. Websites

and public service announcements, letters, and

other outreach efforts, such as inviting leaders of faith communities that might provide assistance to

meetings or lunches, all had to be developed and

carried out. Facilitators who would teach and lead

the classes and workshops needed to be hired and

trained. Training also needed to be provided to the

teachers in schools that would be hosting programs

provided by Multnomah County Health Department

personnel and actually teaching some of the lessons

in the eight-hour program to be counted as part

of the HMI in high schools. Methods of ensuring

collaboration and communication across all the

agencies involved—the high schools, the federal

Ofce of Family Assistance under the Administration

for Children and Families, Northwest Family Services,

Multnomah County Health Department, Catholic

Charities, the University of Oregon—had to be

established and many meetings had to be scheduled

and attended. Project staff members needed to travel

to conferences and training programs provided by

the federal funder. Specic details of methods of

tracking participation, documenting activities and

questionnaires, and collecting data for the evaluation

had to be established, including teaching all involved

how to protect condentiality and ensure accuracy.

It was a lot of work, and took time, to roll out this

ambitious, multicomponent project! Yet it was a very

exciting time and a great deal of enthusiasm went into

moving from hope to action.



6

Allowable Activities Defned

The ve-year HMI project in Oregon initially, in

2006, included seven of the “allowable activities”(AA) that were dened in the original funding

announcement—and are quite similar to the “Healthy

Marriage Promotion Activities” specied for the new

three-year Community- Centered Healthy Marriage

and Relationship Grants. During the 2006–11 period,

requirements were claried in ways that made it

reasonable for only the rst ve to be maintained

and expanded during the entire ve-year project in

Oregon. Here is a list of those activities:

AA1. Public advertising campaigns on the value of healthy marriages and the skills needed to increase

marital stability and the health of the marriage.

AA2. Education in high schools on the value of

healthy marriages, healthy relationship skills, and

budgeting.

AA3 Marriage education, marriage skills, and

relationship skills programs, that may include

parenting skills, nancial management, conict

resolution, and job and career advancement, fornonmarried pregnant women and nonmarried

expectant fathers.

AA4. Premarital education and marriage skills training

for engaged couples and for couples or individuals

interested in marriage.

AA5. Marriage enhancement and marriage skills

training programs for married couples. From www.

acf.hhs.gov/healthymarriage/about/mission

.html#activities.



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The Greater Portland Healthy Marriage Initiative

was a multiple-tiered project using a collaborative

approach. Northwest Family Services (NWFS) was the

lead agency. NWFS was working with two partners:

Multnomah County Health Department (MCHD)

and Catholic Charities of Oregon (CC). Together,

they provided relationship and marriage education

services to pregnant and parenting teens, high school

and college students, low-income couples, and the

public at large.

Marriage educators leading this program were

trained in the Prevention and Relationship

Enhancement Program (PREP, Stanley, Blumberg, andMarkman, 1999), which has a substantial research and

literature base (e.g., Halford, Markman, Stanley, and

Kline, 2003; Markman, Renick, Floyd, Stanley, and

Clements, 1993; Stanley et al., 2005; Stanley, Amato,

Johnson, and Markman, 2006, see also www

.smartmarriages.com/directory/29.

Objectives That Were Maintained All

Five Years

The over-arching goal of this program was to

support the formation and maintenance of two-parent

families. Each year, specic objectives related to eachof the allowable activities were set. For example, the

objectives for the rst year of the project, ones that

were maintained throughout all years of the project,

are described below, as these initial objectives set

the tone for the entire ve years, and although minor

modications were made as appropriate for changing

situations, the goals remained in essence the same

every year:

Objective 1: To implement culturally specic

community campaigns on the value of marriage and

the skills needed to increase marital stability andhealth in the four target counties, by (a) developing

public service announcements (PSAs) highlighting

marriage skills and values by September of 2007

(with new ones by February 2008) reaching 1,000,000

viewers in the Portland metropolitan area; (b) by

working with Spanish-language radio to produce

regular talk shows on marriage and marriage skills

at least four times each year; (c) development of

a website of local and national resources related

to healthy marriage; and (d) making 150 to 200

presentations, reaching 3,500 to 5,000 people in

colleges, businesses, faith-based communities, and

neighborhood apartment complexes.

Objective 2: Each year, to educate 4,000 to 5,000

high school students on (a) the value of marriage;

(b) relationship skills, particularly in the areas

of communication, conict resolution, safe

relationships, and commitment; and (c) budgeting andnancial responsibility, by providing healthy marriage

classes in eighteen to twenty high schools using the

FACTS-Datos and Connections relationship curricula.

(Allowable Activity 2, AA2)

Objective 3: To provide marriage education (including

parenting skills; nancial management and career

advancement, and relationship skills, particularly

in the areas of communication, conict resolution,

safe relationships, and commitment to the stability

of marriage) to 175 nonmarried pregnant women

and nonmarried expectant fathers each year, using

the Connections and Within Our Reach relationship

curricula and, when needed, more intensive education

and referral. (Allowable Activity 3, AA3)

Objective 4: Each year, to provide premarital

education and marriage skills training for 800 to

1,200 engaged people and for persons interested in

marriage, including couples who have applied to

receive a marriage license. (Allowable Activity 4,

AA4)

Objective 5: Each year, to provide healthy marriage

and relationship education to 1,000 couples.

(Allowable Activity 5, AA5)

The First Year (2006–7)



8

The Greater Portland Healthy Marriage Initiative

succeeded in establishing the programs and

activities needed to meet its objectives. Initial results

from the rst-year surveys of couples and teens

indicate that statistically signicant (p < .05) pre- to

postintervention changes occurred in almost all

areas targeted. In fact, gains were highly statistically

signicant (p < .001) for many items.

A nal highlight from the rst year was the

following report from one of the facilitators about one

couple’s positive experience: At a couple’s workshop,

a couple who sat in the back seemed very conicted.

They barely spoke to each other and seemed as if they

did not want to be sitting next to each other. At the

end of the rst session, our presenter spoke with themto see how they were doing. They said this was a “last

ditch” effort for them. They had been feeling very

distant from each other for a long time and were not

sure if they were going to stay together. After the last

sessions, they seemed energized and excited about

the skills they had learned, and they stayed afterward

to talk. They said that the Speaker-Listener technique

made a tremendous difference in their ability to

communicate. They also mentioned the phrase, “I

choose us,” had stuck with them. The wife said we

should put that on a T-shirt.

The Second Year (2007–8)

From the basic Lasting Relationships classes during

the 2007–8 academic year, a total of 663 individuals’

anonymous retrospective pre- and postintervention

questionnaires were received. The greatest changes,

all statistically signicant (p < .01), were on the

following items:

• I know warning signs of danger in relationships.

• I know the names of two local agencies where

someone could get help and support if they needed

it because of a physically dangerous relationship.

• I can speak assertively about my own needs without

being inconsiderate of my partner’s needs.

• My partner can speak assertively about his or her

needs without being inconsiderate of my needs.

• Everything considered, I am happy in my present

relationship.

• My partner and I usually agree on demonstrations of

affection.

• When disagreements arise, usually we come to an

agreement by mutual give and take.

• I believe we can handle whatever conicts will arise

in the future.

• My partner condes in me.

• I want this relationship to stay strong no matter

what rough times we may encounter.



9

Results for key questions are shown below, and

results for other items were similar:

I like to think of my partner and me more in termsof “us” and “we” than “me” and “him or her.”

I want this relationship to stay strong no matter


The brightest highlight of the second year was the

“Best Practices Follow-Up Survey.” We started to use

follow-up surveys in December of the second year of

the project. After that, they were used systematically

six months after a Lasting Relationships class

or workshop was completed. Although all

questionnaires were anonymous, and we did not

have a system for linking respondents to follow upsurveys with the questionnaires they completed

at the last class to measure changes for specic

individuals, the responses to the follow up surveys

were quite interesting, especially when disaggregated

by language (i.e., was the questionnaire in Spanish or

English?)

Best Practices Follow-Up Surveyin the Second Year

Findings that stand out from the results of the

follow-up survey included:

• The pattern of responses was similar to the

pattern of responses seen on the immediate

postintervention survey. This suggests that positive

attitudes and skills were maintained.

• For the most part, response patterns were similar

on the Spanish and the English questionnaires and

both generally were quite positive.

• The program could be improved by increasing

efforts to make participants aware of services and

opportunities available after the classes.

• A more powerful incentive appears to be needed to

ensure a stronger response rate.

• The program could be improved by encouraging

facilitators to plan time for the survey and ways to

increase motivation to complete surveys.

• Those who responded to the follow-up survey

appear to have excellent attitudes and skills and

may be good candidates for future mentors or

facilitators. This was indicated by the items with

the most positive scores:

I want this relationship to stay strong no matter what rough times we may encounter.

I like to think of my partner and me more in termsof “us” and “we” than “me” and “him or her.”

Everything considered, I am happy in my present relationship.

My relationship with my partner is more important to me than almost anything else in my life.

I believe we can handle whatever conicts will arisein the future.

My partner can speak assertively about his or her needs without being inconsiderate of my needs.

I can speak assertively about my own needs without

being inconsiderate of my partner’s needs.When disagreements arise, usually we come to anagreement by mutual give and take.

I conde in my partner.

I feel good about making sacrices or doing things for my partner.

50

40

30

20

10

0Stronglydisagree

D isag re e No t sure Agree S trong ly a gree

English

Spanish

C o u n t

60

40

20

0Stronglydisagree

D isag re e No t sure Agree S tron gl y a gree

English

Spanish

C o u n t



10

The follow-up survey was worthwhile because it

provided some indication of the lasting effects of the

program for those who responded and it indicated

ways to improve Healthy Marriage Initiative programs

and to improve future follow-up surveys.

Considerable progress was made in reaching

couples in the second year of the project.

A nal highlight of the second year was a report

from a Lasting Relationship class instructor who got

to know one of the couples who attended a class

series. They later conded to the instructor that at

the start, they were close to getting divorced. The

husband had an affair in the past. They did not

want to come, but were persuaded after the wife’s

mother-in-law talked to them several times and the

instructor talked to them separately on the phone

as well. Finally, they decided to come and complete

a workshop. The instructor stayed in touch with

this couple and reports that a year after of attending

the series, the couple remain together and became

involved helping other struggling couples.

Example of typical chart indicating positive

program impact for couples in Year Two.

Percent of responses to “Everything considered,I am happy in my present relationship.”

50

40

30

20

10

0Stronglydisagree

D is agr ee N ot su re A gr ee S tr ongl y a gr ee

Before

60

After

C o u n t

The Third Year (2008–9)

Year Three, starting in the autumn of 2008 and

lasting through September of 2009, was an exciting

time for the Healthy Marriage Initiative. New

expectations revolved around the development of

new “performance measures” for the federal ofce to

report to Congress about data to be collected for these

demonstration projects across the nation. Additional

training sessions on data collection were provided

by the ofce of Administration for Children and

Families.

We expected to see (and did see) improvements

in both program content and in data collectionprocedures because of the new emphasis on the

performance measures. These improvements include

the following changes, already being implemented:

• Increased emphasis on budgeting and nance skills.

• A more efcient process for the surveys that

includes (a) consistent and systematic use of the

same basic questions for the performance measures

across programs instead of having multiple versions

of questionnaires and (b) increased supervision and

monitoring of surveying.

• Improved focus and precision in attention to the

goals of the program, based on the topics addressed

by the performance measures, with more energy

being concentrated on the specic objectives of the

project.

• Semiannual rather than annual performance reports,

making it possible to bring the project staff together

to use data for decision-making more often.

The federal ofce highlighted the NWFS program

in a booklet on programs they considered to be

providing examples of promising practices, using the

following report from a Lasting Relationships class

instructor about a couple’s positive experience: Ben

and Jenna (not their real names) are married and in



11

their mid-twenties with a two-year-old son and a

newborn daughter. This family was under a lot of

stress and was involved with the child welfare and

social services system. The child welfare services

agency was concerned whether to keep the children

in the home and referred Ben and Jenna to classes

offered by NWFS. After they completed the series,

their situation was reassessed by a case manager and

was much improved. In fact, this improvement was

a main factor enabling them to keep the children in

the home. The couple explained that they learned

skills for coping with anger. The husband commented,

“We now take walks if we start to yell at each other.

Our instructor told us to nd something that helps us

calm down and do it when we take a time out. I am

really excited about what I did the other day. Instead

of getting angry and yelling in front of the kids, I went

for a walk.”

For couples and individuals in Allowable Activities

4 and 5, the areas of greatest improvement were in

communication skills and skills related to conict

resolution and to the prevention of abuse and

domestic violence. We were invited to present on ourevaluation process at the national conference (Tobin,

Johnson, and Fuller, 2009).

Highlights from a Report on High School

Students’ Responses in Year Three

The top questionnaire items by percent of high school

students who improved, were:

• No one will meet all your expectations in a

relationship; the key to your happiness is not in

another person.


someone could get help and support if they

needed it because of a physically dangerous

relationship.

• Married people earn more money than do single

people with similar education and job histories

• Being the right person (myself) is more important

to building a lasting relationship than nding the

“right” person.

• My strengths could become weaknesses if pushed

to extremes.

• My way of communicating affects my

relationships with others.

Examples of typical charts indicating positive

program impact in high schools:

“I know the names of two local agencies where


it because of a physically dangerous relationship.”

Stronglydisagree

Disagree Not sure Agree Strongly agree

Before Program

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0

After Program30%

35%



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The Fourth Year (2009–10)

In the fourth year of the project, the new

performance measures to be used for all activities

were nalized:

New Performance Measures Finalized

For each semiannual report, we reported the

number of participants who completed eight hours of

marriage education and the number who improved on

the ve performance measure topics:

Communication skills (ability to listen to and

speak with another person with whom one has a

close relationship, such as a family member, friend,

partner, or spouse).Conict resolution skills (ability to problem solve

with another person with whom one has a close

relationship, such as a family member, friend,

partner, or spouse).

Abuse prevention skills (ability to recognize danger

signs in potential partners and take steps to develop

safe and healthy relationships and ability to prevent

physical or emotional abuse from or to another

person with whom one has a close relationship,

such as a family member, friend, partner,

or spouse).

Budgeting and nancial skills (ability to

understand how your habits and attitudes affect

your money and relationships and ability to handle

money wisely, either your own money or money

you share with another person with whom you

have a close relationship, such as a family member,

friend, partner, or spouse).

Attitudes toward marriage have become more

favorable (greater understanding of the benets of a

healthy committed relationship and opinion about

marriage in general or feelings about own marriage

or possible future marriage have become morepositive).

In addition to reporting the number who improved

for each topic, the funder asked that the total number

who improved on any of the topics (i.e., at least one of

the ve) be reported.

Following the marriage education classes, 96

percent of participants improved on at least one of the

performance measures. Many improved on more than

one measure.

A highlight in the fourth year was the following

report of a dramatic change for a woman who

participated in one of the AA3 classes. Although

the change was not immediate, the woman took the

time to contact her class instructor later to express

gratitude, saying that she had left Portland to pursue

her previous life (before becoming pregnant) of

making money as a prostitute in another area. Shestated that after she arrived and started to go into

that lifestyle she stopped herself because of what she

learned in the classes. She remembered she learned

about values in life and the importance of getting

to know the other person, and building trust and

reliance before going to “touch” and it was with all

this thinking that she decided she could not go back

to that type of life.



13

The fth year was particularly challenging for

this program, as for the nation as a whole, due to

the nancial recession dragging on, as it has been

particularly severe in Oregon. However, NWFS

from the beginning was aware of, and conscientious

about, the need to take steps toward sustainability.

An important step was to establish the marriage

education workshops for couples as valuable and

to expect couples to pay at least a small fee to

participate. When couples pay at the time they

register, even if it is a small amount, they are

much more likely to follow through and attend

the workshops than if they are free. Nevertheless,

results for participants continued to be excellent.Overall, 96 percent of participants improved on at

least one measure and many improved on three or

four measures, if not all measures. The table below

presents data on performance measures from the nal

semiannual report and shows results that were typical

throughout the project. The percent is calculated as

the number improved divided by the number who

answered the question (shown below the percent).

The Fith Year (2010–11)

AllowableActivity

Q1

Communication% Improved

Q2

ConictResolution

% Improved

Q3

AbusePrevention

% Improved

Q4

Budgets% Improved

Q5

MarriageAttitude

% Improved

% Improvedon at least 1

performancemeasure and

answered at least 1

question

AA599.7% 99.4% 98.8% 86.6% 97.5% 99.4%

326 324 320 313 319 328

AA496.2% 95.2% 96.1% 84.8% 90.1% 98.0%

397 396 389 368 384 400

AA395.1% 95.1% 95.1% 95.1% 95.2% 95.1%

41 41 41 41 40 41

AA2

86.8% 85.1% 80.9% 53.5% 68.1% 94.0%

1,024 1,029 1,022 1,014 1,014 992



14

Although the Lasting Relationship classes were

intended primarily to prevent serious difculties,

sometimes couples were already quite distressed

when they signed up for the classes. One Lasting

Relationship class instructor reported the following

example: “Miguel and Berta [not their real names]

had been married for six years and were parents of

two preschool children. At the time they attended our

couple’s class, they had been separated for several

months and had divorce papers ready to sign. They

decided they were going to go to our classes as a last

ditch attempt to save their marriage. It worked!

They learned new skills, reconciled, and are back

together.”

Final Year Ends with Plans orNext Project!

Fortunately, NWFS recently was awarded a three-

year grant through the Ofce of Family Assistance

to continue and expand these services in the

new Community-Centered Healthy Marriage and

Relationship Grant . NWFS also received a three-year

grant from a local foundation to create partnerships

with the faith community that will train leaders in

evidence-based strategies.

In addition, NWFS is seeking some additional funds

for abuse and violence prevention services, such as

“Safe Dates” (Foshee et al., 1998; Foshee, Bauman,

Linder, Rice, and Wilcher, 2007; Simon, Miller,

Gorman-Smith, Opinas, and Sullivan, 2010). Great

care was taken in the development of the plans for

the Healthy Marriage Initiative to protect individuals

seeking to escape abusive relationships from any

effort to prevent them from leaving a situation where

domestic violence may occur. When spousal abuse

occurs, often children also are abused. A child

who views a parent suffering from intimate partner

violence may be severely traumatized even when the

child is not abused. The co-occurrence of child abuse

and witnessing a parent involved in intimate partner

violence (IPV) has a greater impact than either child

abuse or witnessing IPV alone. NWFS collaborated

with dedicated staff members from Catholic Charities

and the Multnomah County Health Departmentwho work in the domestic violence eld. All project

partners established a common denition, protocol,

and training for staff members and volunteers. This

included a discreet brochure that all participants

received (available in English, Spanish, and Russian)

with local referral sources. Over the course of

several meetings, our project partners and staff

members reviewed the de-escalating protocol for

angry participants. Staff members were trained and

re-trained at least once per year by the professional

counseling staff at NWFS.



15

Summary o All Five Years and Lessons Learned

The ve-year HMI project in Oregon provided

services in the Greater Portland Metropolitan area

comprised of four counties (Clackamas, Multnomah,

Washington, and Marion) that represent the largest

population of Oregon. These counties represent 51

percent of Oregon’s population and are comprised

of urban, suburban, and rural communities. The

project was directed to serve low-income individuals,

especially the Latino community, with evidence-

based healthy relationship and marriage education.

One county that has received a large portion of the

Lasting Relationships classes was Clackamas County.

In Clackamas County, NWFS worked with the county

clerk (where people obtain a marriage license) toprovide all people with information about our classes.

The divorce rate in Clackamas County dropped 6

percent during the ve years of the project. Of course,

it is not possible to assume that the project was the

cause of that drop; it is possible that the project was

one factor facilitating the drop.

Over the course of this ve-year project, NWFS,

MCHD, and CC were able to reach almost 28,500

individuals with evidence-based, skill-based

programs. They focused on serving low-income

individuals and accomplished this by focusing onschools with higher levels of low-income students

and community areas that generally have more

low-income individuals. The project also targeted

low-income Latino families who otherwise might not

have been able to attend such classes. It is reasonable

to assume that through this project, individuals

considering marriage made better partner choices,

thus possibly averting future divorces and all the

subsequent fall out. Those already in marriages

typically reported experiencing enrichment with

improved communication and less conict. Indirectly,

for couples who are parents, this would be expected

to lead to improved child well-being. Program

participants who became better parents and better

partners would be less likely to behave violently.

Participants might be more successful at work if

their personal and family problems decrease. Even as

Oregon continues to experience economic stagnation,

couples in Oregon are developing internal resources

to endure hardships that come their way and together

to seek a better future. The HMI program truly

addressed foundational issues. When individuals

marry well, almost every societal indicator is

improved. Investing in a program such as this is an

investment in the future. A document was released

a few years ago, Marriage and Family Wellness:

Corporate America’s Business? This document(Turvey and Olson, 2006) highlights the rising cost

to business when relationships fail. Documents from

schools and juvenile justice could also highlight the

high price society pays with the children of the failed

unions.

Important and ConsistentChanges in Knowledge,Attitudes, and Behavior

The follow key changes in knowledge, attitudes, and

behavior were consistently found throughout theproject:

Knowledge. Every year, knowledge of ways to

prevent domestic violence increased. Indications

of changes in knowledge were shown by increasing

levels of agreement, pre- to postintervention, with

the following statements, by youths, by single

individuals, and by married and unmarried couples:

• I know warning signs of danger in relationships.



it because of a physically dangerous relationship.



16

Attitudes. Every year, attitudes toward marriage

became more favorable. For couples, this was

demonstrated by increasing levels of agreement,

pre- to postintervention, with statements such as the

following:

• Everything considered, I am happy in my present

relationship.

• I want this relationship to stay strong no matter


• I feel good about making sacrices or doing things

for my partner.

For high school youths and other single individuals,

this was demonstrated by increasing levels of

agreement, pre- to postintervention, with statementssuch as the following:

• Married people earn more money than do single

people with similar education and job histories.

• Marriage has important benets for couples,

families, and society in general.

Behavior. Every year, behaviors relevant to the goals

of the project became more skillful, as reported

by couples who demonstrated increasing levels of

agreement, pre- to postintervention, with statements

such as the following:

• I can speak assertively about my own needs without

being inconsiderate of my partner’s needs.

• When disagreements arise, usually we come to an

agreement by mutual give and take.

• I know how to express sincere appreciation to my

partner.

For high school youths and other single individuals,

this was demonstrated by increasing levels of

agreement, pre- to postintervention, with statements

such as the following:

• I know how to speak assertively about my ownneeds without being inconsiderate of other’s needs.

• Becoming aware of my strengths, and of skills I can

use, has helped me increase my self condence.

Looking to the Future

In looking to the future and to preparing to begin

new projects, NWFS plans to take time to use thelessons learned from the HMI ve-year project just

completed. One important lesson learned was that,

in spite of promising results and many success

stories, continuing efforts to nd even better ways to

provide marriage and relationship education in the

community are needed, perhaps particularly with

regard to assisting unmarried pregnant and parenting

youths, couples with nancial difculties, and

individuals at risk for domestic violence. In addition

to reviewing its own “lessons learned,” NWFS leaders

and staff members, as well as their community

partners, are interested in new evidence on effectivestrategies being provided by others.

From the programs for married and unmarried

couples and single individuals in the community,

we learned about the great need for this type of

program—even beyond what the current HMI

demonstration project was designed to provide.

Participants often commented on how valuable the

program was for them and very often said that they

would like to participate in more programs like this

in the future. Fortunately, Northwest Family Services

(www.nwfs.org ) was able to meet this interest in

many cases because they offer a variety of programs

and many individuals who started with one Healthy

Marriage Initiative workshop did participate later in

other types of workshops and resources. However,

when services are being provided to low-income

couples who actually are not able to pay the full

cost of the services they need, even if they show

responsibility by paying something, a lesson learned

about implementing this type of program was to think

ahead about what the participants really need over

time.

As NWFS prepares for new projects, lessons learnedfrom completed projects in Oregon and across the

nation will be studied. Longitudinal research of

interest that addresses levels of marital happiness



17

and discord, and of stability and disruption in

marriages, indicates that time spent together in

shared activities is a protective factor, while marital

problems (e.g., indelity, arguments about nances,

jealousy, moodiness) and to a lesser degree, economic

hardship, are risk factors (Anderson, Van Ryzin, and

Doherty, 2010). Anderson et al. (2010) concluded that

“These results also highlight the need for a greater

understanding of why some individuals remain in

long-term low-quality marriages. Expanding our

study of constructs related to marriage to include

more emphasis on love, affection, forgiveness, and

sacrice (Caughlin and Huston, 2006; Fincham,

Stanley, and Beach, 2007) could prove to be fruitfulin understanding the contrasting paths of marital

happiness” (Anderson et al., 2010, p. 594). A new

book by John Gottman (2011) summarizes years of

research on relationships with the goal of preventing

divorce and indicates that specic strategies can be

taught that will strengthen relationships.

NWFS leaders will be keeping up with the latest

research on evidence-based practices in preparation

for and throughout the course of new projects.

Combining lessons learned rsthand in the Oregon

project with research of others is bound to lead toeven greater success in the future.1

1 References and additional information will be

available on request from [email protected] in the

longer version of this report, with the title, The Story

of the Healthy Marriage Initiative in Oregon: 2006–11.

HMI Highlights

Documents

Transcript of HMI Highlights