Recently I began doing a little more research into the ACF Healthy Marriage Initiative.
After looking more into the initiative I found that it was created after several findings in 1996. Those findings by Congress include:
The success of society depends on marriage.
The success of children greatly depends on marriage.
The government then determined that marriage is very important to our country and its people. To encourage the states to promote and strengthen the bonds of marriage, the government created the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. This act allows for $150 million every year for the promotion of healthy marriages and successful fatherhood.
Under the act exists the following provisions:
Those who apply for the funding must make a commitment to working with experts who deal with domestic violence. They must also show how they will address the issue of violence. Participation in the program must be voluntary.
Eight activities must be utilized. Some of those are marriage education, marriage skills classes, public advertising, marriage high school value courses, and marriage mentoring.
The mission of the initiative is
to help couples, who have chosen marriage for themselves, gain greater access to marriage education services, on a voluntary basis, where they can acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to form and sustain a healthy marriage.
If you are like me you are probably wondering exactly what defines a healthy marriage. According to the initiative, a healthy marriage contains at least two specified characteristics. First the marriage should be mutually enriching, that is for both partners. Each mate must feel that the marriage is satisfying. Secondly, the partners in the marriage should have a deep respect for one another.
Healthy marriages are made up of two people who are dedicated to the growth of their relationship. The couple uses good communication skills and effective conflict management skills to resolve issues that arise.
If these two things exist then a marriage is considered to be healthy and happy.