Texas State University-San Marcos has received $2,465,414 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families to implement a relationship education program for adolescent parents.

The program is administered by Michelle Toews, assistant professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, and Karen Brown, professor in the School of Social Work, working under the auspices of the Center for Children and Families. The goal of the project is to assist adolescent parents in building and maintaining healthy relationships by developing their personal and relationship skills. The program will train undergraduate and graduate interns from a variety of disciplines at Texas State in a modified version of the nationally recognized Connections: Relationships and Marriage curriculum.

Undergraduate and graduate students will implement the modified program with adolescent parents enrolled in Pregnancy, Education and Parenting (PEP) programs in the Austin/San Marcos area, their partners and their families. The sessions will cover topics such as learning aspects of healthy relationships, building awareness of interpersonal relationships, creating realistic expectations about relationships, improving communication skills and developing conflict resolution strategies.

For more information please contact Michelle Toews at mt15@txstate.edu or 245-2405.