They were able to present the model developed in Grand Rapids to the thousands of therapists, counselors, clergy, social workers, and policy makers that attended the conference. This spring Hardiman appointed three task forces, for physical and mental health, legal and judicial matters, and religious issues. Two other task forces to be developed will focus on business and education. The purpose of the task forces is to mobilize each sector of the community to help strengthen marriage. Targeting education and support for healthy marriages as a solution for improving children s welfare is a relatively new idea, according to Hardiman.
People are willing to talk about family and even fatherhood.
But it is like it is taboo to discuss marriage. We felt it is like putting Band Aids on a gaping wound, he said. According to a 1995 study by the National Institute for Healthcare Research, the number of currently divorced people has quadrupled in just over two decades from 3.2 percent in 1970 to 9 percent in 1992. And more than 25 percent of Kent County s children grow up without their fathers and mothers married and living under the same roof, according to an article by Sider in Policy Review. Harridan said these statistics should be enough to motivate people into examining the impact of marriage on children.