This brief report provides facts about Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) on the following topics: (1) What is the purpose of the IDEA Part C early intervention?; (2) Early intervention service delivery in Washington, July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016; (3) Primary early intervention services; (4) What are the expected child outcomes?;…

To promote children's healthy development and give them opportunities to flourish, families need a wide range of support services. These services are often disconnected from each other. Early care and education (ECE) has a particularly fragmented system (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2018). Systems with myriad processes…

This report describes the work done by the 48 State Deaf-Blind Projects awarded grants by the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in late 2013. The report documents the technical assistance and dissemination activities carried out by the Projects and their collaborative activities, describes the needs for…

The California Children and Families Act of 1998 led to creation of the Kern County Children and Families Commission (First 5 Kern) to support early childhood service programs in Kern County, the third largest county in California that spread a land area as large as the state of New Jersey. In Fiscal Year 2014-15, First 5 Kern administered more…

Extension is experiencing a trend toward closer alignment of its programs serving families and youth, notably Family and Consumer Sciences and 4-H Youth Development. Projects are more multidisciplinary and comprehensive than in the past, and, in many states, FCS and 4-HYD are also becoming more administratively integrated. Several reasons for this…

The implementation of Part C of IDEA has continued to evolve as states have built and modified service delivery systems. The number of children served has increased dramatically with nearly 350,000 children and their families now receiving early intervention services. Meanwhile, challenges to the provision of quality services--such as securing…

The aim of this paper is to unpack the implicit ideology underpinning early childhood service delivery for families living with childhood disability. The family as the unit of care is central to the philosophy and practice of early childhood services. However, the practice of family-centred care can be problematic; it is based upon neo-liberal…

This brochure presents an overview of the eight trial Family Support Programs in Illinois which attempt to meet needs of families of children with disabilities in order to enable such children to remain with their families and avoid institutional placements. Principles of family support are listed, including its focus on whole families and meeting…

The report presents findings from a study of family-based care for persons with developmental disabilities. The first of four parts introduces the problems of family-based care and presents perspectives of parents and of persons with developmental disabilities. Part 2, on responding to the needs of families, includes a review of historical and…

Research indicates that problems faced by many youngsters and families, such as poverty, inadequate housing, and poor health care and nutrition, are interrelated in complex ways. These problems are often inadequately addressed because of flaws in the social service delivery system. These flaws include a lack of communication between public and…

Basic information about respite care for individuals with disabilities and their families is presented in a question-and-answer format. The following questions are addressed: "What is respite?"; "Who needs respite services?"; "Who provides respite services?"; "What kinds of services are provided?"; "How…

This report focuses on positive practices in providing support services to families of children with severe disabilities and chronic illnesses, based on visits to three sites in Maryland: the Family Support Program at the Kennedy Institute in Baltimore, the Coordinating Center for Home and Community Care, and Sick Kids Need Involved People (SKIP).…

This report to the Minnesota state legislature describes the status of the local children's mental health collaboratives. These mental health collaboratives were established in response to the fragmented service delivery system. Counties, school districts, and local mental health entities became partners with public health, juvenile corrections,…

This fourth document in the Education and Human Services Consortium's Series on Collaboration puts current efforts to create comprehensive and coordinated child and family-serving systems in a 30-year context of related endeavors. Starting from the premise that thinking about ways to structure and improve human services has been clouded by decades…

This policy brief reports on the status of state policies and programs that relate to integrating community services for children and families. Problems with the current service delivery system are discussed, and guidelines for creating a profamily system through effective collaboration are outlined. Information from a questionnaire on early…