Analysis of community social problems by 125 rural West community leaders revealed attitudes toward social services. Two perspectives emerged: focus on family-related problems and focus on public safety problems. Findings suggested--although links between public services and social conditions in health and education are understood--connections…

Reviews impact of recent agricultural trends in South Dakota. Outlines Kubler-Ross' stages of grief/adaptation that farm families must negotiate as they cope with the trauma of the loss of their farms. Indicates service providers must overcome farmers' mistrust for human welfare services and reach out to this vulnerable population. (NEC)

Communities experiencing rapid growth due to energy development have serious and predictable social and human service problems, especially concerning women, the aged, and other minorities. The Wyoming Human Services Project, a model of impact mitigation, might be emulated elsewhere to modify the effects of such growth now and in the future.…

Small western boomtowns typically respond to increased social problems by placing greater demands on existing formal service systems rather than taking advantage of the potential of utilizing informal sources of help as part of a coordinated and comprehensive approach to meeting community needs. (Author/SB)

Based on a records analysis, the rural youth at increased risk for reentering emergency shelters were adolescent females living in a step-family or female-headed household. Older children reentering care were unlikely to return home. Community-based services are needed to prevent the ongoing cycle of children in emergency shelters and subsequent…

Reviews social-work research concerning the differences between rural and urban practice, how rural social workers feel about their practice, and what needs to be taught in professional social-work schools. Suggests a more useful agenda for social-work research. Describes a West Virginia study that identified the research interests of the human…

Examines issues regarding current farm finance situation from a public policy perspective: origins and causes of current situation, available policy options for dealing with the problems, and impacts of policy options. (NEC)

Describes the partners' group model used at the Winona (Minnesota) Women's Resource Center which combines support, therapy, and education to work with rural women who are survivors of domestic violence. Indicates the model is especially effective if the women's partners are also in treatment and the community supports the groups. (NEC)

Notes three features of current community service satisfaction research that hinder its progress: weakness of study designs, lack of standard service and disregard for how user satisfaction varies with service use. Makes recommendations regarding the content, reliability, validity, and analysis of useful measures of service satisfaction. (SB)

The purposes of the Wyoming Human Services Project are delivery of human services, determination of how best to train and use human service personnel, and development of suggestions and guidelines for other rapidly growing communities about how to deliver human services most effectively. (Author/KR)

Compared homelessness among persons in a metropolitan setting based on whether or not the person had migrated from a rural area. Found that those from rural areas had a lower level of educational achievement, experienced a higher degree of isolation from families, and frequently had come to the urban area seeking jobs. (KS)

Survey of 20 community mental health centers in 12 Midwest grain belt farm states found continuum of farm crisis problems requires professional responses consistent with philosophy and goals of community mental health. Results indicate responses vary, not in relationship to severity of problems, but because of center philosophy and resource…

Pinpoints several problems in youth services in general and in rural areas in particular. Suggests strategies for overcoming these obstacles: packaging services which meet child's total needs, establishing youth service bureaus to coordinate families and human services resources, and using natural helping networks of the community. (Author/AH)

Early identification of handicapped rural children is difficult due to the scarcity of rural preschools, medical and human services, and education about the handicapped. This article defines early identification, delineates its four steps and the significant and divergent approaches to it, noting advantages and disadvantages of developmental…

Defining hunger on the basis of poverty or other nonphysiological criteria is misleading. With nutritional data used by human-service agencies, suggests programs with such conception of hunger hurt the efforts at nutritional change. Uses central Mississippi as an example to propose objective nutritional definition and assessment. (TES)