A group of people representing law enforcement agencies, county services, victim services and other organizations met at the City/County Community Center in Nevada at noon, Thursday, to hear from Dr. Jennifer Baker of Operation Us, who gave a presentation on the importance of healthy marriage. Baker pointed out the benefits extended past those to the family itself to the communities in which they live.

"The impact of a healthy marriage goes beyond the family itself," Baker said. "The overall social impact of healthy marriages is felt in all areas. Healthy marriages mean lower crime rates, lower domestic violence, lower teen pregnancy, lower juvenile delinquency, more educated citizens and higher earnings."

(Advertisement)

Baker said a higher percentage of children who are in poverty are the children of single-parent households.

"Only 6 percent of children of two-parent marriages are in poverty," Baker said. "More than 30 percent of children of single-parent families are in poverty. Of the children of two-parent families in poverty, many of them are first generation immigrants and will pull themselves up out of poverty so it won't be generational poverty -- it will only be temporary."

Baker said that family fragmentation not only costs the families involved it costs the communities and service providers as well.

"We estimate that family fragmentation costs the taxpayers of this country at least $112 billion each and every year," Baker said. "The Iraq war has cost approximately $500 billion since it started. Family fragmentation has cost $560 billion in that same period."

The cause for the increased costs are numerous and varied according to Baker and reducing the costs by encouraging healthy families could result in large savings to taxpayers.

"If we can reduce the costs by just 1 percent that's a savings of more than a billion dollars," Baker said. "If we could save 10 percent of the costs that would be huge."

Monetary concerns are just one of many raised by fractured families, domestic violence is another. Step families experience more violence than intact families.

"There is an increase in violence associated with step-families and unwed couples living together," Baker said.

There is hope, however. Baker presented the attendees with a plan to help strengthen families, at little or no cost to the organizations sponsoring the events, at least within the 29-county area of the Operation Us grant, which includes Vernon and all surrounding counties except Bates.

The grant would help the organizations arrange seminars that could help families in several ways. The programs can be tailored for teens, singles, dating couples, engaged couples, married couples, expectant parents, step-family couples and couples facing extra stress.

Several attendees expressed interest in the program and plans are under way to see about getting some training for the people in those organizations so they could bring the program to Vernon County and Nevada.