Improving the Lives of Children Through Healthy
Couple Relationships and Stable Homes
Georgia Summary Report: April – August 2013
Overview of HRMET and Evaluation
The goal of the Healthy Relationship and Marriage Education Training (HRMET) Project is to meet the safety,
permanency, and well-being needs of vulnerable children and reduce racial disproportionality in the child
welfare system. HRMET’s approach is to increase child welfare workers’ access to relationship and marriage
education (RME) by creating a cost-effective and sustainable multi-state, five-tier delivery saturation model.
This model brings together Cooperative Extension’s existing resources and experiences, lessons learned from
recent federally funded Healthy Marriage projects, social work’s experience developing curricula and training
child welfare workers, and an eight-state team of the nation’s leading Extension Specialists in Human
Development and Family Studies (HDFS).
This report represents a summary of the information collected from professionals who completed the training in
Georgia during the third round of pilot implementations in 2013. A brief description of the participants is
provided below along with preliminary results from the post-survey administered at the conclusion of the 1-day
training. Additional information is also provided in the Appendix regarding specific questions asked.
In 2013, eight 1-day trainings were conducted across Georgia. As summarized below, 281 professionals
attended a training, 265 (94.3%) responded to the pre-survey and 278 (98.9%) responded to the post survey.
Training City
Athens - Apr 25
Savannah - May 3
Albany - May 8
Tifton - May 9
Athens - May 16
Zebulon - June 6
Cumming - July 11
Waycross Aug - 1
Totals
Registered
35
32
39
38
45
34
44
31
298
Attended
35
32
38
36
41
31
43
25
281
Pre-Test
34
29
34
33
38
31
41
25
265
Post-Test
35
32
36
36
41
31
43
24
278
1-Week
29
16
22
16
18
20
30
18
172
All Three Surveys
28 (80.0%)
15 (46.9%)
19 (50.0%)
16 (44.4%)
18 (43.9%)
20 (64.5%)
30 (69.8%)
17 (68.0%)
163 (58.0%)
Demographic Information
Of the 281 professionals who attended a training, 192 (73.8%) self-identified as working in the child welfare
field and 74% attended with a co-worker (57.7%) or supervisor/administrator (15.8%). The general profile of
those who attended includes:
 Age: 24 to 75 (M=44.9; SD=10.9)
 Gender: Female (92.4%)
 Race: Caucasian (43.8%); African-American (54.2%); other (2.0%)
 Education: High School (10.7%); Associates (5.7%); Bachelor’s (24.5 %); Advanced Degree (Master’s
or PhD) (58.6%)
 Marital status: Married (62.7%); Divorced/Separated (12.2%); Widowed (1.9%); Single in a relationship
(11.4%); Single not in a relationship (11.8%)
Most learned about the training by email (43.5%) followed by their supervisor (27.9%), a listserv (3.6%) or
flyer/newsletter (7.2%). As well, reasons for attending the training included professional growth (71.5%),
continuing education (35.4%), it was recommended by their supervisor (17.0 %) and/or required (14.1%).
100%
Training Satisfaction
90%
As seen in the figure, almost all of the
participants indicated they were satisfied
or very satisfied with the training
(99.7%). Also, the majority of
participants tended to agree that the
training was useful and relevant for the
work they do (98.9%).
80%
70%
60%
84
80
10%
16
19
0%
0
All
1
0
Athens
91
50%
80
84
81
16
0
Zebulon
19
91
96
9
0
Waycross
14
0
Tifton
40%
30%
20%
9
0
Savannah
20
0
Albany
0
Cumming
Respondents were also asked about what
Overall Training Satisfaction
Very dissatisfied/dissatisfied
Neutral
Satisfied
Very Satisfied
they thought was most useful about the
training. Primarily, respondents
mentioned tools and materials (“Knowing that I can access the tools online, and that they are not copyrighted”),
knowledge about healthy relationships (e.g., “Basic knowledge of what constitutes a healthy relationship”), and
suggested activities (e.g., “Communication activities”). When asked about what they liked least about the
training, a small number of participants presented issues concerning time. Some felt that the training needed to
be longer (e.g. “Ran out of time”), and others felt it should have been shorter (e.g. “The training was drawn out
through the day. It needs to be simplified to important points.”).
With regards to instructor ratings, all participants (100%) ‘agreed’ that the instructor was knowledgeable and
presented material well. Last, nearly all of the participants (98.5%) indicated that they would recommend this
training to their co-workers or others.
Training Impact
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
48
42
49
49
49
44
44
Immediately following the conclusion of the
training (post-test), all of the participants felt
confident in helping individuals and couples
49
53
52
48
48
48
48
apply the seven core concepts taught from the
National Extension Relationship and Marriage
70
50
50
50
50
30
30
…develop and …develop ….demonstrate …support ….develop …manage …become Education Model (see figure). Participants
maintain a shared intimate care in their healthy living meaningful differences and better were also asked about what they will do
healthy knowledge. relationships.
choices.
couple time conflicts.
connected with committed that fosters their support differently now as a result of the training.
relationship.
friendships.
systems.
Responses included plans to use their new
Not at all confident
A little bit confident
Confident
Very confident
skills both professionally and personally:
 Use the tools with my families that I work with as well as in my own personal relationship
 When a family is in need, I can give them concrete tools to use to help ease their situation.
 Take time to review training tools to stay objective and help others figure out their problems instead of
trying to fix.
 Think before I act or react in my relationships. Seek ways to share the information provided.
 Listen to families and use better questions to help individuals process couple issues better, leading to
more positive results.
 Make myself more available to families in helping them deal with relationships.
 I will definitely use some of the tools provided to assistant single clients in knowing how to enter and
maintain positive relationship
Evaluation efforts are currently underway to further examine how the training further impacted participants’
knowledge and attitudes regarding teaching relationship skills to their clients, as well as how participants are
utilizing the tools shared in their work. To learn more about the training, available resources, and evaluation
results visit www.hrmet.org or contact Dr. Ted Futris at tfutris@uga.edu.
Funding for this project was provided by the United States Department of Health and
Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Grant: 90CT0151. Any
opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are
those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
www.hrmet.org
www.gamarriages.org
Appendix
Training Satisfaction
Overall how satisfied were you with this training?
N
Post
Training Relevance and Usefulness
M
SD
Range
272
4.68
.81
1.0-5.0
N
M
SD
Range
Overall computed score
Post
274
4.67
.52
4.6-4.7
The course/training met my expectations.
Post
276
4.71
.51
2.0-5.0
The course/training was worth my time.
Post
276
4.76
.52
1.0-5.0
The content was relevant to the work I do or plan to do.
Post
276
4.63
.54
2.0-5.0
The course/training provided knowledge and skills for assessing and working
with individuals and couples within the child welfare system.
Post
276
4.63
.54
2.0-5.0
The content of the course/training was compatible with the needs of the
individuals/families I work with.
Post
276
4.59
.55
3.0-5.0
N
M
SD
Range
Instructor Rating
Overall computed score
Post
277
4.80
.41
4.6-4.8
The instructor(s) seemed knowledgeable about healthy relationship and marriage
education.
Post
278
4.88
.32
4.0-5.0
The instructor(s) seemed knowledgeable about the child welfare profession.
Post
277
4.67
.54
3.0-5.0
The instructor(s) was engaging of participants/students
Post
277
4.83
.41
3.0-5.0
The instructor(s) gave clear instructions
Post
277
4.82
.40
3.0-5.0
The instructor(s) answered questions clearly
Post
277
4.82
.38
4.0-5.0
N
M
SD
Range
Confidence in using specific NERMEM concepts.
As a result of this training, how confident do you feel in helping individuals/couples:
Develop and maintain a healthy committed relationship. (CHOOSE)
Post
275
3.43
.58
2.0-4.0
Develop shared intimate knowledge. (KNOW)
Post
275
3.37
.58
2.0-4.0
Demonstrate care in their relationships. (CARE)
Post
274
3.46
.56
2.0-4.0
Support healthy living choices. (CARE FOR SELF)
Post
274
3.46
.56
2.0-4.0
Develop meaningful couple time that fosters friendships. (SHARE)
Post
274
3.43
.59
2.0-4.0
Manage differences and conflicts. (MANAGE)
Post
275
3.37
.62
1.0-4.0
Become better connected with their support systems. (CONNECT)
Post
276
3.39
.58
2.0-4.0