While the American public may think that marriage promotion is a new idea on the public agenda, a handful of states have already tested the waters.
“States have done more than they are getting credit for,” said Alan Weil, director of the Urban Institute Center, which conducts research on welfare reform policies.
According to Theodora Ooms of the Center for Law and Social Policy, several states have used money from the welfare program Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to develop programs since welfare was revamped in 1996. The objective has been to help couples tie the knot and stay married.
Other states have developed their own initiatives, Ooms said, including marriage education in schools, providing marriage counseling and developing marriage covenants.
Alabama has developed an initiative which, while not a marriage promotion program, does promote responsible fatherhood.
Alabama partnership
Joel Sanders, director of Family Assistance Partnerships with the Alabama State Department of Human Resources (DHR), said they are partnering with the state agency, Children’s Trust Fund, to use TANF money for fatherhood projects.
“These are 35 community-based projects that work with young males or fathers,” Sanders said. “They teach fathers who don’t live with their children the importance of spending time with them, and young males their role of responsibility in not becoming fathers until they are ready to.”
Sanders said the state was studying some of the marriage promotion programs and talking with
interested organizations. “We and our partners are watching the development of the marriage funding proposal very closely and will react appropriately when the time comes.”
Ooms said that uncertainty remains as to which marriage programs are working and which ones aren’t.
“Although change is in the air, there is not a great deal happening on the ground. Only a few states have taken any significant action, there’s still very few churches offering what I would call comprehensive marriage ministries,” Ooms said at a recent Pew forum on Religion and Public Life symposium.
Ooms added that it is too early to evaluate the success of such programs and that such evaluations would be difficult financially and technically.
One of the states getting started in the marriage experiment is Oklahoma, which has one of the highest divorce rates in the nation. After a link was made between high divorce rates and high per-capita income, Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating announced a marriage initiative in 2000 — a $10 million plan to encourage marriage and reduce divorce. It involves the efforts of health, social service, religious business, government and legal providers to strengthen and stabilize marriage. Ten percent of the state welfare program’s surplus funds would be used for:
Z a marriage resource center.
Z a public education campaign.
Z youth outreach on the virtues of marriage.
Z premarital counseling.
The marriage initiative encourages religious leaders to sign a marriage covenant to encourage premarital counseling for couples in their churches and other houses of worship.
One of the most controversial programs is West Virginia’s initiative that offers $100 more in
monthly welfare benefits to married couples with children. This year 1,834 families qualified for the bonus, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services.
Opponents of the program have questioned the effectiveness of such a policy, arguing that low-income men and women may be trapped in an unhealthy marriage for the sake of money.
In February 2001, Utah set aside $6 million of its surplus welfare funds for the promotion of marriage education over the next two years. Programs include premarital counseling and vouchers for counseling and mediation services for married couples.
Marriage is also promoted through high school civic classes and teacher education. In addition, there is a marriage week each February that honors successful marriages and promotes the importance of marriage through sermons and conferences.
The Covenant Marriage Law in Louisiana offers an alternative to the traditional marriage law. If couples choose this alternative, they face tougher divorce provisions and the law requires them to receive information about their rights and responsibilities as husband and wife before getting married.
Couples can get divorced only if they have proof that their spouse committed adultery or abuse, or the couple has been separated for two years, among other reasons.
(RNS, TAB)
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