An Overview of the Longest-Running Statewide Marriage Initiative in the U.S.

This new brief—the first in a series—profiles the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative, a pioneering effort to support healthy marriage that began in 1999, before the current national focus on marriage education and support. Oklahoma's program is also the only statewide marriage initiative in the country. The brief explores the origins, implementation, and goals of this public-private collaboration. To provide information to other entities implementing similar initiatives, future briefs will identify lessons learned by Oklahoma, including the obstacles it faced and the strategies used to address them.