Child Welfare Training Grant

In 2003, Forest Institute of Professional Psychology received a five-year, $1.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families for the development of a curriculum to train child welfare professionals, Head Start Family Advocates and community members about the benefits healthy marriage and family formation to child well-being.

A large number of children seen by social service agencies would benefit by being in a strong family unit that includes both of their biological parents. The Fragile Families Research Brief published in 2003 by Princeton University states that 86% of unmarried mothers and 91% of unmarried fathers who were living together when their child was born had plans to marry. 82% of mothers and 84% of fathers who were involved, but not living together, had plans to marry.

However, one year later, only 11% of involved parents were married and 32% broke up. Cohabiting parents were slightly more likely to marry and less likely to break up (15% married and 21% broke up). These “fragile families” often end up in the child welfare system. In part, the Healthy Marriage and Family Formation curriculum seeks to train professionals working with children in ways to promote healthy relationships and marriage for couples who identify this as a goal for themselves.

The curriculum will enable child welfare workers, Head Start Family Advocates, marriage and family therapy students at Forest Institute, social work students at Missouri State University, and community members to recognize the significance of healthy marriages to the well-being of children. It will also assist these groups in identifying services that are needed and help with referring clients to the proper sources. A secondary goal involves increasing awareness of these important issues across the state.

Currently, the Missouri counties in the grant area are: Barry, Benton, Christian, Dallas, Greene, Hickory, Lawrence, McDonald, Newton, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster. During the fourth and fifth years of the grant, expanded efforts on a statewide level include working with the Missouri Department of Social Services Professional Development Unit to train their on-staff trainers.

Jennifer L. Baker, PsyD, Associate Professor and Director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program, is the principal investigator for this initiative shared with the Social Work Department at Missouri State University (MSU). Kristina S. Brown, PhD, serves as the Project Manager. Other partners include the Missouri Department of Family Services and Head Start. Anne Summers, PhD, Associate Professor of social work at MSU, is also working on this project.

Questions or comments about the project may be directed to Dr. Jennifer Baker or Dr. Kristina S. Brown at (417) 823-3469. Drs. Baker and Brown may also be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , respectively.