University-community partnerships are widely recognized as critical to the success of community research and advocacy work but difficult to form and sustain. This article will describe a unique facet of that partnership, namely the collaboration between mental health clinicians and community consultants, a partnership that our data suggest was a…

The domestic health profile, family and community role, and federal efforts to help at-risk children are discussed. Federal efforts center on maternal and child health programs that strengthen the family, but other initiatives are necessary to give each child the security and stability needed for healthy development. (SLD)

In recognition of the greater needs of low socioeconomic status persons, federal grant policy has favored areas in which 25 percent or more of the population is impoverished. Areas of greater poverty have more resources both in terms of service structure and level of manpower, yet broad inequities are found when the rural-urban status of a mental…

Analyzes why the current complex of social institutions and systems does not effectively serve poor children, highlighting the lack of early or preventative help for families and inappropriate organizational structure. Offers a series of five principles for a new foundation based on prevention, comprehensiveness, continuity, and accountability.…

The major papers collected in this work were written by researchers who participated in a regional research project entitled "Isolation of Factors Related to Levels and Patterns of Living in the Rural South." Chapter 1 examines the low income rural family as an open system. Chapter 2 discusses research objectives and sample design.…