Project Overview
This project will result in a comprehensive process and output evaluation of selected ACF Healthy Marriage grantees that serve Hispanic families, addressing a key programmatic question of the Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative (HHMI): how are healthy marriage programs being implemented in order to provide services for Hispanic families? It is hoped that this implementation analysis will reveal lessons learned that may offer assistance to other sites wishing to provide healthy marriage education services to Hispanic populations. Beyond the implementation analysis, the project will also compare implementation, operations, and output data within and across sites, as appropriate, to hypothesize whether some program models appear to be associated with more positive outcomes for Hispanic populations. Additionally, the evaluation will describe how concepts used in healthy marriage education programs are being defined, adapted and measured for Latino populations and assess their appropriateness and relevance, as perceived by participants and service delivery staff.
Project Purpose
Hispanics are the fastest growing population in the U.S., increasing 58 percent between 1990 and 2000. By 2030, nearly 20 percent of the population will be Hispanic. Hispanics have the highest birth rate; however, less than 60 percent of Hispanic children live with two married biological or adoptive parents, and Hispanic children are three times as likely as non-Hispanic white children to live in poverty. In response to both the size and needs of the Hispanic population, special attention is being paid to how Hispanic marriages and families can be strengthened through effective, culturally appropriate marriage and relationship education programs.
The ACF Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative (HHMI) is building interest in and capacity to provide culturally relevant marriage education to Hispanics nationwide. With the funding for marriage education programs through the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and other mechanisms, there is now a sizable number of federally funded marriage education programs that target or serve a significant number of Hispanic couples.
Little is known about how such programs effectively reach and serve Hispanic families. This evaluation, a joint effort between the Administration for Children (ACF) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), both within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will examine the ways in which healthy marriage grantees are developing, adapting and implementing culturally relevant and appropriate healthy marriage programs for Hispanic populations.
Contacts:
To learn more about this project, please contact:
- Girley Wright, ACF, Co-Task Order Officer at (202) 401-5070 or girley.wright@acf.hhs.gov
- Linda Mellgren, ASPE, Co-Task Order Officer at (202) 690-6806 or linda.mellgren@hhs.gov
Publications
· HHMI Grantee Implementation Brief #5: Hispanics and Family-Strengthening Programs: Cultural Strategies to Enhance Program Participation, May 2013.
This brief, using qualitative data collected during the Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative Grantee Implementation Evaluation, describes the adaptations and refinements undertaken by study sites to make their services more culturally responsive to address the backgrounds and life circumstances of people of different cultural, racial, ethnic, or socio-economic backgrounds.
· HHMI Grantee Implementation Brief #4: Addressing Domestic Violence in Hispanic Healthy Relationship Programs, March 2013.
This brief describes how study sites addressed domestic violence in the family strengthening and relationship education services they provided. The major finding of the study is that programs treated domestic violence with requisite seriousness and expressed concern about the prevalence and effects of domestic violence in their communities.
· HHMI Grantee Implementation Evaluation Brief #3: Understanding Hispanic Diversity: A “One Size Approach” to Service Delivery May Not Fit All, February 2013
This brief describes the Hispanic population of the United States in terms of socio-demographic characteristics and then describes the populations served by nine Hispanic Healthy Marriage programs and the implications of Hispanic diversity for service design, delivery, and evaluation.
· HHMI Grantee Implementation Evaluation Brief #2: Marketing, Recruitment and Retention Strategies, April 2012
This brief describes how grantees craft recruitment messages and strategies and develop and disseminate marketing materials to encourage participation in family strengthening and relationship education services by a broad and diverse Hispanic constituency.
· HHMI Grantee Implementation Evaluation Brief #1: Providing Culturally Relevant Services: Programs in the Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative Implementation Evaluation, May 2010
The Hispanic Healthy Marriage Initiative Grantee Implementation Evaluation examines ways in which federally‐funded healthy marriage grantees are developing, adapting and implementing culturally relevant and appropriate programs to strengthen Hispanic marital and family relationships. This brief introduces the design of the evaluation and the study sites.