LSS receives $950,000 contract
for marriage education services
March 14, 2008

Lutheran Social Services of the South received a $950,000 contract from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) for the statewide implementation of the Twogether in Texas Healthy Marriage Program, passed by the Texas Legislature to promote healthy relationships and child well-being in Texas.

The program, beginning September 1, 2008, is designed to provide couples with the skills they will need to have a successful marriage through an eight-hour pre-martial education workshop. Those who complete the program can waive the 72-hour waiting period and will not have to pay the state's marriage license fee, which increases from $30.00 to $60.00.

"This program was developed to strengthen marriage with the long-term goal of strengthening families as a whole," said Karalyn Heimlich, executive director of adoptions and marriage education.

LSS will serve 30 counties in Central Texas and plans to have workshops available either in the couple's county of residence or an adjoining county every month.  Workshops are free to participants.

Currently LSS has a Marriage Enrichment Program for Adoptive Parents, which helps parents who have adopted children from the foster care system.  Sometimes the issues the children have can strain marriages and the Marriage Enrichment Program strives to address those problems through forums for adoptive couples and facilitated marriage retreats.  The new Twogether in Texas Healthy Marriage Program complements the success of the Marriage Enrichment Program.

Lutheran Social Services of the South, Inc. is the social service arm of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. LSS annually serves nearly 35,000 children, elderly and poor in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi regardless of religious beliefs, ethnicity, gender or age. Its ministry includes children's centers, therapeutic foster care, adoption, adult day care, health care and retirement centers, emergency assistance and disaster response.

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