OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating — long-time proponent of reducing the state’s divorce rate, which is the second highest in the nation — asked the Oklahoma Department of Human Resources board of directors March 21 to set aside $10 million in federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds to help fight the battle against broken families.
TANF funds are federal block grant funds provided to each state, and marriage is a key component of three of the four goals for that funding, according to a press release from the Governor & First Lady’s Marriage Initiative office.
The Keatings established the marriage initiative last year, drawing together leaders from seven sectors — faith, business, education, service, government, legal and media — to lead the campaign.
Kent Choate, the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma family ministries specialist, said the TANF funds should provide significant opportunities for Oklahoma Baptists to “take part in something that is on the cutting edge in our nation … The Oklahoma marriage initiative could be a model for how other states attack their own divorce rates.”
In 1999, Choate helped train more than 100 ministers, staff and counselors at “Prepare/Enrich” seminars to aid those who do marriage counseling. Seminar attendees learned how to administer the Prepare/Enrich inventory, a scientifically developed 165-item questionnaire which assesses relationship strength and growth areas in 15 categories for either premarital or married couples. Additional Prepare/Enrich seminars this spring will train about 50 more people, Choate said.
The other crucial aspect of improving the quality of marriages — mentoring — has yet to be addressed.
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