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…

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) has developed this resource to help state leaders strategize how to create or improve early childhood systems to meet the needs of vulnerable babies and toddlers, their families, and pregnant women. Every state has the pieces of a comprehensive early childhood system in place. This tool will help state…

This article presents a framework for providing services to infants with disabilities and their families, by conceptualizing early intervention in terms of levels of prevention. Primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention are proposed to prevent the manifestation, severity, or extended impact of developmental delays; and implications for…

Presents information to facilitate ideal family involvement in early intervention. Strategies for conducting family assessments while building collaborative partnerships with families are presented. Characteristics which produce effective collaborative partnerships are reviewed, and the reality of working with families is presented through two…

This public awareness package is designed to help crisis nursery and respite care programs for families with special needs children to increase the visibility of the programs' services, increase use of their services by families, enhance collaboration with other agencies, and assist with fund-raising efforts. It describes the advantages and uses…

Suggests eight questions that can serve as a framework for determining the extent to which early intervention has accomplished the goals inherent in a family-centered approach. Conceptual issues and methodological considerations associated with documenting these outcomes are presented and recommendations regarding implementation and future…

This booklet explores the experience of being a new leader in an infant/family program, focusing on reflective leadership--using self-awareness, observation, and flexible responses as tools to manage stress and increase on-the-job effectiveness. Section one defines reflective leadership and explores the parallel process of leadership. Section two…

Describes how the clinical early intervention assessment report (CAR) can be used as a tool to promote family-centered practice. Strategies and examples for incorporating a family perspective into the CAR are presented, along with suggestions for using family-friendly terminology. An example of a rewritten CAR is provided. (Author/CR)

A rationale for and components of a development systems model are presented to guide early intervention programs. Core principles emphasizing a developmental framework, integration, and inclusion are expressed in the context of a multicomponent interactive system. The model's focus on maximizing family patterns of interaction by addressing…

Libraries are faced with changing demographics, emerging technologies, and economic shifts. Families once attended library programs as a unit, children began kindergarten at age five, and libraries offered few programs for children under four. Intact and extended families are a thing of the past. Many children today are raised in single parent…

The family is the handicapped infant or toddler's ecological system, is critical to the child's optimal development, and must be incorporated into early intervention programs. Characteristics of the ecosystem of the family of a handicapped child are discussed, followed by characteristics of ecologically attuned early intervention teams. (JDD)

This article describes a variety of treatment options for infants and toddlers with nonorganic failure to thrive. Key elements of successful interventions are discussed and appropriate clinical applications are made. The need for a team approach to address the varied etiologically significant factors related to feeding difficulties is stressed.…

This article explores components of family-centered care and challenges professionals encounter as they work with families in which abuse/neglect is suspected or is occurring. Strategies for working with families in a family-centered manner that promotes a sense of empowerment in family members, while ensuring the safety of children, are offered.…

This article discusses how clinicians can work with parents of young children with disabilities who may themselves have mental health disorders. Recommendations are provided for an initial approach to parents with mental health challenges, referral to psychiatric personnel, establishing trust and rapport, and sustaining a relationship with parents…

This article discusses the increasing population of children from diverse backgrounds and suggests commonsense methods for team development of cultural competence for the provision of appropriate early intervention services to linguistically and culturally diverse families. Recommendations for using interpreters and developing models for family…