Implementing Programs to Strengthen Unwed Parents Relationships Lessons from Family Connections in Alabama

Family Connections in Alabama (FCA), a 12-month project conducted in 2003, aimed to design, implement, and evaluate a program to provide family life education to low-income unmarried parents of young children. This report describes and develops lessons learned from FCA that are relevant for designing and implementing programs to serve low-income unmarried couples having a child together—the population being served by Building Strong Families programs. Implementation lessons identified include issues relating to staffing, service delivery format, recruitment and retention, and curriculum use.