Matrimony, proponents say, does more than a couple good.

The societal impact of promoting and fostering lasting, loving marriages can be seen in everything from dropout and crime rates to taxpayer support for the poor, according to a new community advocacy group.

The fledgling Northeast Georgia Healthy Marriage Initiative Coalition met Thursday to hear why the work it has chosen to undertake is important. What participants heard were some disheartening statistics about family life in America and Hall County.

For every 1,000 marriages licensed each year in Hall County, nearly 900 people are getting divorced.

Some 40 percent of children in Hall County are born to unwed mothers, and the national marriage rate has plummeted from 71 marriages per 1,000 people in the 1970s to 46 marriages per 1,000 people in 2001.

"This didn’t happen just yesterday," said John Jauregui, vice president of community initiatives for the Georgia Family Council. "We didn’t just wake up and find ourselves in this situation."

The traditional course of courtship, marriage, co-habitation then parenthood has become less important to the newer generations of couples and parents, Jauregui said.

"What has happened is people have taken a pick-and-choose mentality," he said. "We no longer think about the sequence of what we do — we think about what we want to do at this particular moment."

In the last eight years, the Georgia Family Council has helped 12 groups in Georgia start healthy marriage initiatives, with a goal for 80. The coalitions promote everything from pre-marriage counseling for young adults to "10 Great Date" sessions sponsored by local restaurants to lessons like "how not to marry a jerk."

"It’s not a federal dating service," said Ted Futris, a family life specialist with the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. "It’s not to force people to get married, and it’s not to force people to stay married. It is about helping those who choose marriage to develop skills to sustain a satisfying, healthy marriage."

And sometimes, Futris said, the successes come from people choosing not to say "I do" after premarital counseling.

Local volunteers will gather for a strategic planning session April 17 at the Frances Meadow Community Center to decide what Hall County’s biggest needs are and how to get at the problems. The number of single-parent families, area divorce rates or domestic violence statistics may need special attention.

Starting programs and spreading the word may be possible through schools, social service agencies, medical facilities or even courtrooms.

One magistrate judge in Whitfield County, Jauregui says, will not marry couples unless they complete the initiative’s premarriage counseling.

Unwed mothers see their best chance at marriage to the father in the "magic moment" around the time of birth, making a case for promoting healthy marriages in doctors’ offices, he said.

Brochures will be available at court offices where marriage licenses are issued.

But a lot of promoting the Healthy Marriages Initiative "is going to be word of mouth," Futris predicted.

"It’s going to be important for this initiative to be regular and ongoing in its activities to remain in the public eye," he said.