A UF program is working to decrease the state’s divorce rate and allow for healthier relationships.
UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences recently announced that Christina Collingwood, a UF/IFAS assistant professor in family, youth and community sciences, received a $5 million grant for her project, “Strengthening Marriages and Relationships Training Couples Florida.” The program allows couples across the state to sit through workshops on dating violence, communication and sexual decision-making.
The program will run for the next five years, with couples coming from the Florida counties of Santa Rosa, Citrus, Manatee, Palm Beach and Duval, Collingwood said. She said these counties are socioeconomically and ethnically diverse.
Participants will go to weekly sessions for five weeks in their counties, she said. High-schoolers can also participate.
The program started in July after Victor Harris, a UF/IFAS family, youth and community sciences assistant professor, saw that Florida’s divorce rate is one of the highest in the country, she said.
Harris started the program because helping couples have healthier relationships helps families as well, Collingwood said.
“It’s kind of like a meeting of the minds,” she said. “You’re able to meet your goals and get along. It reduces the stress that you’re under and the overall well-being of the relationship.”
Kristin King Kennington, a 57-year-old Gainesville resident, wrote in an email that she attended a workshop with her husband in August and September and found the communication strategies taught to be helpful.
“A lot of issues that my husband and I were experiencing could have easily been prevented if we had known the communication strategies that we know now after training,” she said. “It's fun to go to the classes because we've noticed the benefits.”
Staff writer Caitlin Ostroff contributed to this report.
