U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Family, Relationship, and Marriage Education Works – Adults (FRAMEWorks)

The Family, Relationship, and Marriage Education Works – Adults (FRAMEWorks) program will award demonstration grants that support healthy marriage promotion activities. The following elements have been identified as the scaffolding upon which healthy families are built—family, relationship and marriage education, together with gainful employment. Grants will support projects that provide a broad array of healthy marriage promotion activities and services designed to integrate skills-based healthy marriage education, along with additional services to address relationship skills and job and career advancement opportunities, for adults (age 18 and older). Applicants are encouraged to design program models that focus primarily on healthy marriage promotion activities, which include, pre-marital education for individuals or couples interested in marriage, marriage enhancement, divorce reduction, and/or marriage mentoring.

Grantees will be expected to implement at least 12 hours of curriculum-based workshops (unless a lower intensity is proposed with strong justification and submitted for post-award review and approval), meet program participation targets within minimum and maximum limits, and achieve specified program completion rates. Applicants requesting funding from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 are expected to propose and conduct impact evaluations (those requesting less than $1,000,000 have the option of proposing to conduct local evaluations). ACF is also interested in projects that implement only one specific program model designed for a service population (e.g., adult individuals or adult couples).

In selecting activities or elements of activities, applicants must select from seven specified activities:

• Public Advertising Campaigns: Public advertising campaigns on the value of marriage and the skills needed to increase marital stability and health
• Marriage and Relationship Education/Skills (MRES): Marriage education, marriage skills, and relationship skills programs that may include parenting skills, financial management, conflict resolution, and job and career advancement
• Pre-Marital Education: Pre-marital education and marriage skills training for engaged couples and for couples or individuals interested in marriage
• Marriage Enhancement: Marriage enhancement and marriage skills training programs for married couples
• Divorce Reduction: Divorce reduction programs that teach relationship skills
• Marriage Mentoring: Marriage mentoring programs that use married couples as role models and mentors in at-risk communities
• Reduction of Disincentives to Marriage: Programs to reduce the disincentives to marriage in means-tested aid programs, if offered in conjunction with any activity described in this subparagraph

Projects funded may be used only for costs associated with the seven authorized Healthy Marriage promotion activities listed above. Funds may also be used to support administrative costs associated with the listed authorized activities.

Amount: A total of $36,037,000 is available to make up to 41 awards that range from $500,000-$1,500,000 per year for a project period of 60 months. The following sets forth the organizational capacity, scope, and funding levels:

• Large scope services: Requests from: $1,000,000-$1,500,000
• Moderate scope services: Requests from: $750,000-$999,999
• Smaller scope services: Requests from: $500,000-$749,000

Eligibility: All public and private entities are eligible to apply, including, but not limited to, state, territorial, local, and quasi-governmental agencies, Native American tribal governments and tribal organizations, nonprofit organizations, independent school districts, public, private, or tribal institutions of higher education, and for-profit entities. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are also eligible to receive awards

Eligible participants are adults ages 18 and older. While participant eligibility is not limited to the following populations, there is a particular interest in services targeting:

• Individuals receiving, or who previously received, TANF and/or individuals who are eligible for TANF assistance
• Non-custodial and custodial single parents
• Active duty military and veteran individuals and couples
• Low-income, at-risk individuals
• Individuals with disabilities
• Formerly incarcerated individuals and their families, as appropriate
• Other unserved and underserved populations in their community (i.e., low-income families and individuals, including refugees and other immigrants)

Link: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=324636

Note: This is one of three Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) FOAs. This FOA addresses Healthy Marriage adult populations. The other FOAs are:

• The Healthy Marriage FOA that addresses youth is: Relationship, Education, Advancement, and Development for Youth for Life (Ready4Life) (HHS-2020-ACF-OFA-ZD-1838)
• The Responsible Fatherhood FOA is: Fatherhood – Family-focused, Interconnected, Resilient, and Essential (Fatherhood FIRE) (HHS-2020-ACF-OFA-ZJ-1846)

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