Mathematica to explore what works in healthy marriage and relationship programs

Research shows that healthy marriage and relationship education programs can improve outcomes for families. But which elements of these programs contribute the most to better outcomes, for whom, and under what conditions?

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, awarded a contract to Mathematica to help answer these questions. Mathematica’s evaluation will generate practical evidence to help programs make informed decisions about how to design and deliver their services.

“Programs use a variety of approaches to help participants build stronger relationships, but we don’t always know which ones make the biggest difference,” said Mathematica project director Sarah Avellar. “Our goal is to generate practical evidence that can help program leaders decide where to focus their efforts and strengthen the services they provide to families.”

Mathematica will explore whether specific elements of participating healthy marriage and relationship education programs—such as instruction or opportunities for participants to practice skills—improve relationship outcomes. We will also examine how programs implement these elements and the conditions that could shape their results.

The findings will help ACF and program leaders identify promising approaches to improving outcomes and determine how to incorporate these approaches into existing services. The project builds on Mathematica’s experience evaluating healthy marriage and relationship education programs for ACF, including the Parents and Children Together and Strengthening Relationship Education and Marriage Services evaluations.