This guide aims to help states look beyond the major sources of child care and early education funding and consider alternative federal financing sources to bring comprehensive services into early childhood settings. Why? Because the sources of child care funding historically available to states have limited supply and allowable uses, and…

Nationally, families of color--particularly African American and American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN)--are over-represented in child welfare systems. These families also tend to have worse outcomes--such as children more likely to be removed from their homes, less likely to receive family preservation services, and in the case of African…

The principles of family support are clear: building on the strengths, resources, culture, and capacity of families and communities is the best way to provide for the optimal development of children. This program self-assessment book gives family support programs specific, short-term and long-term benchmarks to help them enact the principles of…

Intended for workshop planners, the document offers guidelines to organizing and designing a family education workshop or inservice program for families of developmentally disabled individuals. Section I focuses on steps in developing a family education workshop including identifying needs, determining goals and objectives, organizing the program,…

Developed to provide assistance in the building of an effective home-based program for Head Start children and their families, this handbook may serve as a blueprint for parent-focused home visits that assist the child and family to meet their special needs. Chapter one focuses on the home visitation model for providing services to families and…

This manual is designed to help child care providers develop, implement, and evaluate a family development plan for at-risk families. The plan's five components are designed to: (1) identify family strengths; (2) identify family needs; (3) identify community resources; (4) develop and implement a family action plan; and (5) monitor family…

This manual was developed to help facilitators explain, implement, or expand a family literacy program. It is based on research and on the experience of developing and implementing the model program established by Literacy Volunteers of America-Chippewa Valley in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The program encompassed the four basic components of family…

Loss is a common theme of family protection work and particularly of foster care. Ways in which foster families can deal with loss are explored. It is designed to accompany a one- or two-day training course and uses a strategy of collaborative learning for caseworkers and foster parents. The course explores loss and grief through role play, small…

This volume presents a comprehensive plan for transition of children with special needs and their families between infant or early intervention services and preschool services, and between preschool services and kindergarten. It aims to help in bridging these services to minimize the stress and increase the promise of early childhood transitions.…

A series of self-study questions is presented to examine policy and practice issues important in developing culturally competent programs for children with special needs and their families. Cultural competence refers to a program's ability to honor and respect the beliefs, interpersonal styles, attitudes, and behaviors both of families who are…

Based on the view that strong families create healthy local economies and that family support is key to helping families become self-sufficient, active participants in the marketplace, this workbook is part of a wider effort at Family Support America to apply the principles of family support and the strategies of community economic development to…

This manual contains the Cultural Competence Self-Assessment Questionnaire (CCSAQ), a measure designed to assist service agencies working with children with disabilities and their families in self-evaluation of their cross-cultural competence. The measure is based on the Child and Adolescent Service System Program Cultural Competence Model. This…

This manual on development of transition planning programs/services for high school youth with disabilities and their families is based on the premises that both youth and family members need to be actively involved in every step of the transition planning process, that empowered families can access necessary transition and adult services needed…

This document is a guide to the use of alternative assessments (surveys, interviews, observation measures, and performance samples) in a family literacy project. This resource guide focuses on using alternative approaches to identify learners' needs, determine learners' ongoing progress in meeting project objectives, ascertain overall success of…

This document comprises forms (and directions for their use) used in Oregon which meet the state regulations for Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) as well as the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Forms are identified as either required or optional and are presented in a two-page format, with one page identifying…