Our Approach
The Office of Family Assistance (OFA), Family and Economic Stability Demonstration and Innovation Division (FED Innovation Division), competitively awards Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood (HMRF) grants to states, local governments, tribal entities, and community-based organizations (both for profit and not-for-profit, including faith-based organizations). These grantees work to help participants build and sustain healthy relationships and marriages, and to strengthen positive father-child interaction.
Our Programs
The HMRF programs are part of ACF’s strategy to improve the long-term well-being of children and families. OFA currently funds 109 grants across a network of 109 organizations in 38 states under three Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs):
- Projects funded under the Helping Every Area of Relationships Thrive - Adults (HEART) program provide services that combine marriage and relationship education with efforts to address participation barriers and the economic stability needs of adult participants (age 18 and older).
- Projects funded under the Family, Opportunity, Resilience, Grit, Engagement — Fatherhood (FORGE Fatherhood) project integrate robust economic stability services, healthy marriage education, and activities designed to foster responsible parenting for adult fathers (age 18 and older). FORGE Fatherhood projects also serve fathers who are close to release or recently released from incarceration and who intend to return to their communities and families.
- Projects funded under the Relationships, Education, Advancement, and Development for Youth for Life (READY4Life) NOFO provide a broad array of healthy marriage promotion services designed to support healthy relationships and marriage, including the value of marriage in future family formation and skills-based healthy relationship and marriage education to youth in high school (grades 9-12), high-school-aged youth (ages 14-17), and/or youth in late adolescence to early adulthood (ages 18-24).
Our Learning Agenda
ACF is continuing to implement a learning agenda that focuses on expanding the knowledge base to continue improving programming and increase positive outcomes for individuals, couples, families, and children. The learning agenda activities also provide valuable information to grantees on performance and outcomes that will facilitate continuous quality improvement.
Our Grantees
HMRF programs operate under a 5-year project period (2025-2030). The current portfolio includes 32 HEART grantees, 50 FORGE Fatherhood grantees, and 27 READY4Life grantees. You can view the distribution of these programs on our Project Map.
Program Memoranda
Equal Program Access in Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Programs (2008)
Equal Program Access in Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Programs (2007)