This book looks at the Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative whose goals are to strengthen marriages and relationships in low-income families which has emerged as a national strategy for enhancing the well-being of children. With the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), Congress appropriated $150 million in discretionary grants each year from 2006 through 2010 to implement the Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. The Initiative represents an unprecedented financial commitment by the federal government to support marriage and fatherhood programs. The focus of the Healthy Marriage program is to encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent households through healthy marriage promotion activities, while the focus of the Responsible Fatherhood program is to strengthen the role of the father in a child's life. This is an edited, excerpted and augmented edition.
