A Formative Evaluation of a Curriculum for Utah’s Mandated Divorce Orientation Education Course for Divorcing Parents
Alan Hawkins,
School of Family Life
This formative evaluation study will explore individuals’ assessments of a new curriculum designed for participants in Utah’s new “Divorce Orientation Education” course. In Utah, which grants about 10,000 divorces a year, divorcing parents with dependent children now are required to take a brief intervention for the purpose of educating parties about the divorce process and reasonable alternatives, including repairing the relationship. The goals of the legislation are to try to prevent unnecessary divorces or to reduce conflict during the divorce process. This study will interview 20 men and 20 women at the crossroads of divorce about their situations and seek their evaluations of the curriculum, “Helping Couples at the Crossroads of Divorce.” Their feedback will be used to improve the quality of the curriculum before an anticipated outcome evaluation of the effects of this legislation funded by the state.
