San Diego, Oct. 10, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The announcement this week by Health and Human Services/Administration for Children and Families of its Community-Centered Healthy Marriage and Relationships grants spells good news for Californians, as Healthy Relationships California is one of only four organizations in the country receiving the top award of $2.5 million a year for the next three years.
The new grant focuses on low-income populations in nine of California’s largest counties--Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Riverside, Alameda, Fresno and Monterey. Services will include a variety of age-appropriate research-based Relationship and Marriage Education courses for couples and individuals, along with job/career-support training and employment services.
"We’re very pleased with this new funding as it enables us to provide proven relationship skills programs that will help families handle the stresses of the economic downturn" says Patty Howell, the organization’s vice president and project director for this new grant. "We know from our statewide research that the Relationship and Marriage Education programs we offer have a significant positive impact on relationship satisfaction. We provide programs that really help people’s lives and I’m excited that this new grant will allow us to build upon our strong track record."
Howell reports that data increasingly show the cost-effectiveness of Relationship Education programs in helping prevent the need for many taxpayer-supported social services that typically result from family disintegration. Howell believes this is a key reason Congress supports these programs, especially as it looks for ways to balance the Federal budget.
About Healthy Relationships California
Healthy Relationships California is a nationally-prominent provider of skills-based and research-supported Relationship and Marriage Education programs through which they have served over 120,000 participants in the past five years through a statewide network of local partnering organizations. A directory of free or low-cost classes in communities throughout California and numerous relationship-support resources are available at www.RelationshipsCA.org
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