This case study report calls on school-community leaders to consider a made-in-Canada approach that raises literacy rates, prevents early school leaving and breathes life back into small towns. This step-by-step guidebook provides a practical toolkit and worksheets based on the concrete experiences of the "L'ÉcoRéussite" program, which…

Many communities are rethinking their ideas of mutual support, social economy, and community economic development and are using "Time Dollars" strategies to build on their existing support networks and create a strong and valued social economy. This book provides an introduction to the social capital strategy of Time Dollars and presents…

This guide is the second monograph in the "Guidelines for Effective Practice" series commissioned by the Best Practices Project of the Family Resource which meets the need for better definition and articulation of what constitutes best practice in family support programs. This guide describes the definition, key characteristics, and…

This booklet is designed to help individuals address the needs of children and families in their communities. A step-by-step plan of action concerns the processes of getting started, planning for action, raising funds, developing public awareness, and evaluating the program. Discussion is supplemented with general and specific hints. Several model…

Applicable to any school district or school interested in starting a family resource and support program, this guide provides help for both planning and implementation of family resource and youth services centers. It outlines the philosophy behind family resource and youth services centers and how that philosophy is to be reflected in all aspects…

The social services component of Head Start links family, Head Start, and the community. This document addresses components of Head Start, providing Head Start staff who have social services responsibility with a guide to the provision of services to families. The chapters in the guide are: (1) "Overview of Head Start," including its…

This digest summarizes the underlying structure, concepts, and ideology of the Project NEXUS manual, "A Community Approach to an Integrated Service System" (CAISS). Project NEXUS is a 3-year project charged with the development and field-testing of a technical assistance manual to aid communities in the development and/or improvement of…

A consensus has emerged in recent years that the fragmented systems serving children and families need to be restructured and integrated in ways that make them accessible, family-focused, and able to accommodate cultural differences. Collaborative partnerships involving schools, families, and other community stakeholders are learning that they are…

The purpose of this guide is to help families prepare for those times during which their child moves from one environment to another and from one developmental stage to another. The focus of the guide is on the role of assistive technology (AT) during those times--how to consider a child's evolving AT needs, how to identify and address the AT…

Families First, an early intervention program implemented in Marin City, California, was designed to integrate and coordinate the provision of a wide range of services to families of children in a low-income, mostly African-American community, from the third trimester of pregnancy to 8 years of age. The program is intended to enhance the…

Sustainability is a critical issue for the vast array of community initiatives that promote healthy children, strong families, and safe communities. Noting that sustaining an initiative over time requires maintaining sufficient fiscal resources as well as a combination of nonfiscal resources from the initiative itself and the broader community,…

The Families in Education Program, dedicated to nurturing a family-community-school partnership, provides this packet for Wisconsin schools to use throughout the year to promote families and learning. The articles in this packet contain ideas for making family-community partnerships work in the schools. Articles address the following topics: (1)…

Discusses how groups that include early childhood educators can create dynamic support services to combat homelessness. Covers causes of homelessness and the needs of homeless families and their young children, and presents several strategies to develop effective services for them. Emphasizes parental involvement, school and community…

This guide, volume four of a six-part series, describes several community-outreach methods and provides practical outreach suggestions that are based on experience, as well as typical problems and the ways practitioners have chosen to resolve them. The guide is divided into three parts. Part 1 focuses on recruitment. Specific topics cover ways of…

The Families in Education Program, dedicated to nurturing a family-community-school partnership, provides this book for Wisconsin schools to use throughout the year to promote families and learning. The articles in this book contain ideas for developing and enhancing volunteer programs in the schools and for developing effective service learning…