Auburn official partner for ‘Healthy Marriages’
Visit the official ACHMI site to learn more about the Alabama Community Healthy Marriage Initiative (ACHMI).
February has just gained another title to fill its 28 days. Largely known as Black History Month, Alabama’s Governor Bob Riley recently announced that February will also be celebrated as “Healthy Marriage Month” in an official proclamation on February 2. This address kicked off a series of activities sponsored by the Alabama Community Healthy Marriage Initiative (ACHMI).
The faculty in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies and the Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, also known as the Children’s Trust Fund, have been working to build ACHMI for the past four years. It is a program created to raise public awareness of the importance of a stable marriage and its direct effect on children’ development and success.
Auburn is involved in the effort to build stronger communities through stronger marriages by providing educational resources and relevant research. Dr. Francesca Adler-Baeder in the Human Development and Family Studies department received the $8.2 million federal grant from the Administration for Children and Families. ACHMI was then organized in an effort to increase statewide awareness and skills necessary to form and maintain healthy marriages. It may seem like a large amount of money to fundrelationship and marriage education, but Alabamians are in need of serious help.
Alabama has a devastating national ranking of 48th, indicating some of the poorest conditions and prospects for children of any state (Kids Count, 2005). It is also one of the top 10 states for children in poverty, births to teens and children in single-parent homes. It is ACHMI’s belief that all these conditions are related to Alabama’s reputation as one of the highest divorce rates in the nation (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2003).
Auburn University’s involvement stems from the involvement of one of the HDFS professors. The grant funds ACHMI, not the CTF or any other project. The entire state of Alabama is the target population.
“Alabama is a desperate candidate for the Healthy Marriage Initiative,” says undergraduate research assistant Erin Weems. “Unfortunately, in the past 10 years, Alabama has always ranked in the top 10 for the highest divorce rates.” Weems, a senior in nutrition, works with the project director and principal investigator for ACHMI Dr. Adler-Baeder.
Recently, ACHMI and Gov. Riley sponsored a contest for children across the state. They were challenged to write an essay on the “Best Marriage I Know.” The winners were invited to the State Capitol for a marriage celebration event. Research assistants, like Weems, helped judge the countless essays. “We graded writings from all seven districts in Alabama just trying to get eighth graders’ perspectives on what makes a healthy marriage work and there was some unfortunate cases where you really wonder what children in Alabama are growing up in.”
The program’s goal is to reach the target populations throughout the state of Alabama. From clever promotional events like essay contests to video-conferencing and web casting of curriculum training, Auburn is providing ACHMI with cost-efficient outreach services. With the support of faculty and students, there is no limit to the impact ACHMI could make in improved marriages and communities throughout Alabama.
Program activities that will be possible through the federal grant include:
- State-wide public awareness media campaign on the importance of healthy marriages
- Development and broad distribution of free resources in healthy marriage “basics”
- State Conference on Healthy Marriages including briefings for legislators
- Coordinated “Marriage Week” activities in February
- Targeted training of mental health prevention program providers
- Implementation of intensive saturation of Healthy Marriage Initiative marketing and offerings of marriage education programs targeting youth, non-married parents, premarital couples and all married couples
- Study of project implementation process and short-term and long-term impact across the project period among teen and adult participants, as well as a sample of their children
Editors’ note: Additional information was provided for this story by Angela Bradford, Auburn University Graduate Student, member of the ACHMI evaluation team.
Visit the official ACHMI site to learn more about the Alabama Community Healthy Marriage Initiative (ACHMI).
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