This report focuses on the role of partners and spouses in the decision-making processes of social service clients. Using survey data, direct observation of couple interactions, and physiological measurement, findings suggest that the decisions of individuals receiving public...

This issue brief, the first in a series from our Building Strong Families project, focuses on program design. The brief is based on a conceptual framework that identifies factors to consider in developing programs and services to strengthen relationships in unmarried parent families. The...

This report provides impacts of BSF on couples about 15 months after they applied for the program. Early impacts show that, when results are averaged across the eight individual programs included in the evaluation, BSF did not achieve its primary objective of improving the stability and quality...

An implementation study of the Building Strong Families (BSF) programs indicates that many unmarried couples are interested in services to strengthen their relationships around the time of their child’s birth. More than 5,000 couples volunteered for the BSF study across eight states. Although...

This report presents findings from an analysis of the implementation of Family Expectations, one of the programs examined in our Building Strong Families study, and a rigorous evaluation of program impacts on couple and family outcomes after enrollment for 15 months.