Florida child welfare chief Jerry Regier wants to train social workers to talk up wedded bliss.
Published December 29, 2003
When he was Oklahoma's Cabinet secretary for Health and Human Services, Jerry Regier stood before an excited crowd of ministers, business leaders and government officials and proclaimed his intention to promote marriage: "Together we will strengthen and honor marriage as an institution - for the good of all of us."
Four years later, Regier, now the head of Florida's child-welfare agency, has dialed back the rhetoric, but he remains as eager as ever to walk parents to the altar. With the strong approval of Gov. Jeb Bush, Regier has launched a project to promote marriage and reduce the rate of divorce. Whether this new project offers promise or peril depends on how Regier intends to carry out his mission - and whether he is more interested in building skills than twisting arms.
The project will be funded, at least at first, with $1.7-million in federal grants. Most of the money will go toward training Department of Children and Families caseworkers and community-based providers on how to encourage marriage among parents who have been accused of abusing or neglecting their children. First served will be couples in the Panhandle, though others will follow, if Regier has his way.
"We now have concrete data which directly links healthy marriages to decreased anti-social behavior by family members," said Regier.
There's no disputing the premise. All things being equal, children do fare better, in school and in life, when raised by two parents in a healthy marriage. If Regier's goal is only to work with troubled but willing couples in communicating and resolving conflicts, his plan could help children while nudging parents into marrying or avoiding divorce.
But government has no business going further than that to strong-arm anyone - whether in the child-welfare system or not - into a decision that is among the most personal and complex an individual can make.
A recent survey, with results that will help mold training, raises the suspicion that religion or heavy-handed moralizing may be used to pressure adults on the intensely personal decision as to whether to marry. The survey, conducted on the state's behalf by the University of Florida, asked respondents whether they believe couples should stick to traditional gender roles and whether living together and having sex before marriage are good ideas.
How are those matters the province of government? Such issues have more to do with religious or moral dictates than with child protection. They should be raised, if at all, by a couple's faith counselor, not a caseworker sent and salaried by the state.
After all, those caseworkers have a hard enough time as it is without adding "matchmaker" to their nearly impossible job. The reality is that what drives a wedge between troubled couples - and presents a more tangible threat to the children DCF caseworkers are charged with protecting - are often more immediate crises, such as those caused by poverty, substance abuse or the lack of a job or adequate child care.
Regier's project could do some good, but only if it doesn't distract caseworkers or divert money from resolving those core problems.
