Loving Families 

CHS was one of eight sites invited to participate in a national study designed to strengthen families through innovative and supportive resources. Through exceptional curriculum, partnerships and creative ways of engaging participants, CHS successfully enrolled 876 parents over their three year study, which ended December 2010.

Using John Gottman's Loving Couples Loving Children curriculum, CHS concluded the enrollment process for the Loving Families Program in 2009.  The program has become a safe harbor preventing hardship for families. The Loving Families' mission, "to strengthen relationships of economically disadvantaged married couples through support and education", has done just that and more.

Loving Families' efforts focused on randomly enrolling 876 participants into the study (787 evaluated and 89 in the pilot phase), engaging and retaining families over a 12 month period of time, and helping couples to overcome barriers to participation.  Utilizing collaboration, incentives, frequent field outreach, home visits, advocacy and community resources, and transportation assistance, CHS improved the lives of many families. Through a rippling effect, couples continue to improve their ability to communicate with each other and as parents, which decreases conflict and makes positive changes that impact their families through successful interaction at home, work and throughout the community.  Many participating couples have realized they are not alone in their struggles and that the program can greatly impact their relationships through learning better communication skills and patience.

Phase one of the study ended in early 2010. The Loving Families program ended in December 2010.

What couples have learned from Loving Families:

  • Talk to each other
  • Listen and be heard
  • Handle anger and stress
  • Be better parents
  • Keep children happy, healthy and safe
  • Keep fun, friendship and closeness in their marriage
 
Loving Families' Stories

One of our families shared the following story with us. "When we started the Loving Families program, we were looking forward to the opportunity to gain tools and insights to help our marriage grow stronger. What we didn't foresee was how important our weekly meetings would become to the entire family. Our three-year-old son even refers to it as going to "family night" and recognizes the supportive atmosphere. As a couple, one of our favorite parts of the experience is the group sharing---because intellectually, even though one knows they're not the only ones going through any given issue that marriages/families go through, there's nothing quite like hearing someone else actually verbalize those exact same feelings and issues that is so very comforting, helpful, and reassuring. In a time when support networks for families are becoming few and far between, programs like this are a valuable resource. We've gotten so much out of the experience; it's going to be really hard to give this all up when our session is over."

Another family shared that when they began the group, they were already separated for a few months and hoping to learn some tools to help them. Since beginning the group, they practiced listening skills and used the gentle start up technique to communicate in a different way. They have recently moved back in together. They were able to compromise on how to make time for each other while still maintaining personal time individually. With their children, they have also been able to listen better and set better limits as a team. They both feel that they would still be living separately if they had not started participating in Loving Families program.

Our Partners:
  • MDRC
  • ACF
  • Family Counseling of CHS
  • Substance Abuse of CHS
  • Family Support of CHS
  • Public Health Seattle-King County
  • Snohomish Health District
  • Shoreline School District
  • Northshore School District
  • Department of Social and Health Services
  • Loving Couples, Loving Children (LCLC)
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