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Home > Programs and Grantees > Program Management
Program Management
Program management involves identifying any "squeaky wheels" and greasing them to make your program run better. Or it may involve identifying what's working well and celebrating it with your staff.
Overall, program management involves skills of coordinating different processes, prioritizing tasks, and overcoming bottlenecks and challenges that are slowing down your services. Managing your program in this way will help you track your program's overall progress and ensure that all parts of your program are performing at their highest level.
Some of the more common squeaky wheels of your program may:
- involve getting information about your program out to the public
- setting up the nuts and bolts of when/where/how many times your program meets
- recruiting participants into your program
- retaining them
- working with specific groups like faith-based groups.
All these issues may require more of your attention to create or adjust processes to accommodate the needs of your program. While managing your program will be an ongoing need, in the end, it will help your program run smoothly and should strengthen your service.
Topics on this Page:
Marriage Curricula
Marriage education programs often use a core curriculum. There are curricula for youth, engaged couples, distressed couples, married couples, unwed couples, couples having a baby, and couples of various ethnic or religious groups. Search for "curriculum" in our library for more information.
Marriage Education Programs
This resource breaks down select marriage education curricula by target population, target audience, format, etc… This list is not comprehensive or exhaustive and should be used for informational purposes only and not take as a recommendation.
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Program Operations
Many practitioners put great effort into preparing to deliver healthy marriage content and recruitment activities. For those who are new to workshop delivery, the logistics can demand equal time and preparation. A potential participant’s first impression of your program can be the deciding factor in their involvement.
Operational Issues for Healthy Marriage Programs (PDF - 619 KB) - This how-to-guide goes in-depth on various operational issues for healthy marriage programs, such as scheduling, logistics, selecting a location and more.
Operational Issues for Marriage Education Programs (PDF - 270 KB) - This tip sheet assists healthy marriage program grantees in planning and implementing marriage education programs.
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Recruitment
Promising recruitment practices are key to the success of any healthy marriage program. From promotions, to messaging, to understanding your audience, strong recruitment tools are essential for attracting participants.
Recruiting Expectant Couples (PDF - 1.02 MB) - The relationship of expectant parents goes through many changes when the baby arrives, making that time ideal for recruiting them to participate in a healthy marriage program.
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Retention
You have done a great job recruiting, you have your first class and then…what? How do you keep participants coming back? Here we provide you with information on what retention is and how to keep them coming back for more!
August 15, 2007 NHMRC Technical Assistance Webinar: "Retention: If Participants Were Boomerangs"
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Working with Faith-based Organizations
For many marriage programs, working with faith-based organizations is a natural fit. However, if your marriage program is federally-funded, this needs to be managed with care. Here we present you with guidance as well as information on how to manage relationships with faith-based organizations.
What You Need to Know about Equal Treatment Regulations (PDF - 12 KB) - This resource provides guidance created for Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services program offices and clearinghouse Web sites, by ACF's Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary.
June 20, 2007 NHMRC Technical Assistance Webinar: "Staying within the Boundaries, Understanding the Federal Faith-Based Guidelines"
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Additional Resources
Kiss and Tell: What Teens say about Love, Trust and Other Relationship Stuff (PDF - 421 KB) - The survey results presented in this document are, unless otherwise noted, drawn from a nationally-representative survey of young people aged 12-17 conducted in September 2007 by International Communications Research (ICR) on behalf of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Telephone interviews were conducted by ICR with 520 individuals—261 boys and 259 girls. The exact wording of the survey questions and answers, as well as other information on relationships, can be found on National Campaign websites— StayTeen.org  and theNationalCampaign.org . Preparing Staff to Work with Immigrant Youth – This report provides the context of the immigrant youth experience and practical tips for hiring, developing and retaining staff to work with this population. Youth organizations have both an opportunity and a responsibility to encourage and support the healthy development of the growing numbers of immigrant youth. This publication is based on hands-on experience by national and local youth organizations who do this work effectively. Relationship Skills Training and Marriage Education Programs - This resource, developed by the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center, provides information on various marriage curricula, including target population, content, format, and more. Evaluation Toolkit and Logic Model Builder - The Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Performance Measurement Challenges and Strategies (PDF - 237 KB) - This document provides practical strategies for addressing common performance measurement challenges. It grew out of the workshop on performance measurement organized by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Council for Excellence in Government which was held on April 22, 2003. The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation. Five Types of African American Marriages (PDF - 296 KB) - based on ENRICH (2001)
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