STEPFAMILY EDUCATIONSmart Steps: Embrace the Journey

WELCOME

2008 Facilitator TrainingLayton, Utah

November 17th and18th

WELCOME TO THE TRAINING FOR:

Funding for this project was provided , in part, through the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. Grants No. 90FE0129 and 90YD0227. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Smart Steps

Remarriage Grant

Stepfamily Grant

OFA Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grant

Head Start Demonstration Grant

TEACHING HEALTHY MARRIAGE SKILLS TO ETHNICALLY DIVERSE, LOW-INCOME COUPLES IN STEPFAMILIES

Similarities Smart Steps Expectations about couples served Evaluations Media resources

Clips Website: http://extension.usu.edu/stepfamily Advertisement Templates

Differences Participants (FAQ #1) Re-enrollment (FAQ #13) Incentives (FAQ #16)

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

Demonstrate effective strategies to teach healthy marriage skills to low-income, ethnically diverse couples in stepfamilies.

Document the effectiveness of a research-based Remarriage/Stepfamily curriculum with samples of Hispanic and Caucasian low-income couples.

Document the long-term effects of programmatic participation on the level of knowledge, skills, and relationship quality.

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

2003 Marriage Statistics

CountyTotal Number of

Marriages

Total Number of Remarriages

(remarriage for one or both partners)

% of Marriages that were

Remarriages

Box Elder 255 131 52%

Cache 1,423 285 20%

Davis 2,387 726 30%

Iron 209 84 40%

Salt Lake 10,654 2,487 23%

Utah 3,411 807 24%

Washington 1,249 357 29%

Weber 1,471 700 48%

1999-2003 Higher Order Marriages

Higher for Both, 23,722; 57%

First for Groom, 9,271; 22%

First for Bride, 8,965; 21%

89,07688,806

22,215 21,673

6,879 7,142

1,8322,036

443549

128178

25

56

25

37

117 115

1

10

100

1,000

10,000

100,000

Number of Marriages

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Marriage Number

First vs Higher Order Marriages 1999-2003

Grooms Brides

CUMULATIVE EFFECTS

“Multiple marital and relational disruptions

increase the chances that the children will exhibit

internalizing and externalizing problems as a result of having to cope with

all the transitions”

“Children whose custodial parent had lived with several partners over

time had more problems than children who lived

with a parent who had re-partnered only once”

Source: Ganong & Coleman, 2004, p. 149-150

WHY ARE WE PARTNERING WITH YOU?

% Hispanic

% in “step” relationships

% “low-income”

Box Elder Family Support 25% 75% 50%

Centro de la Familia 100% 40% 100%

Child and Family Support Center of Cache County

5% 65% 85%

Family Connection Center 10% 45% 95%Family Support Center 23% 50% 89%Kids on the Move Early Head Start

21% 50% 100%

Family Support Center of Ogden 22% 63% 85%Southern Utah University 32% 42% 100%Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership

48% 75% 90%

WHY HAVE WE PARTNERED WITH YOU? “…have established history and rapport

with the target population.” “…staff with a strong awareness of the

needs of such families.” “…have extensive experience serving

families in their communities.” “…participants will see the same staff they

are used to seeing, and in the case of Hispanic participants they will read and hear the curriculum in Spanish.”

HOW’S IT GOING SO FAR?

STEPFAMILY EDUCATION INITIATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE

55 classes have been offered

1042 adult participants 824 adults have attended 5 or more classes 361 couples

848 youth participant 521 youth have attended 5 or more classes average age 9.9

ADULT PARTICIPANT CHARACTERISTICSTO DATE

Of those 1042 adults who have participated: 373 attended classes in Spanish 669 attended classes in English

1 Lesson 2 Lessons 3 Lessons 4 Lessons 5 Lessons 6 Lessons Total

Adults 885 877 809 822 777 785 1042

84.93% 84.17% 77.64% 78.89% 74.57% 75.34%

YOUTH PARTICIPANT CHARACTERISTICSTO DATE

Of those 848 youth who have participated: 235 attended classes in Spanish 613 attended classes in English

Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Total

Youth 584 607 559 578 515 471 848

68.87% 71.58% 65.92% 68.16% 60.73% 55.54%

MEAN SCORES OF AGREEMENT ON KEY RELATIONAL ISSUES

MEAN SCORES OF COMMITMENT

MEAN SCORES OF RELATIONSHIP INSTABILITY

FAVORITE QUOTES

“We’ve learned a lot. I can’t even remember it all but the money part really helped us because we didn’t know what we were going to do and you know people can fight about money, holy cow they can fight about money.”

“I’ve noticed that I was pushing my two stepchildren a little, my two stepboys, and I’ve finally realized that just going to the doctor isn’t enough time with them. And I think that we’re actually going to set a night aside as just a family night and play some games, no TV.”

“We actually went and bought a kitchen table so we can sit as a family to eat.”

“I’ve told my sister-in-law about it [the class], I told my stepdad about it, I told my sister about it, I’ve told the kids’ grandma about it because it’s been wonderful! I’ve taken home my papers and I go through it constantly! I’m just like, oh, I love this stuff!”

“It’s amazing that people don’t want to come though, even though you pay them. It’s crazy, but I think it is definitely a successful program that you guys are doing.”

“I think the kids are less confused. They know what we expect so it’s a lot easier. They’ve totally changed. So it’s been good.”

CHILD PARTICIPANTS

“My parents got in no more fights.”

“Play more, fight less.”

WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THIS COURSE TO OTHERS?

Oh yes. Because it is helpful. One believes, how can I say it? One believes that we have to fight the battle to move forward with our children without help, but there is help. There are courses, there are ways other people can help. Things that we don’t know. We could never have thought that a program can be so helpful to us.

THANKS TO YOUR EFFORTS, WE ARE:

Making a difference in the lives of a lot of people

Teaching the government what does and doesn’t work

Establishing best practices

THE OBJECTIVE OF NEXT TWO DAYS:

Understand and be ready to execute responsibilities

Recruit

Implement

Retain

Evaluate

EMBRACE THE JOURNEY