"Free To Grow"--a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)--supported efforts by Head Start agencies and their community partners to strengthen the families and neighborhood environments of high-risk preschool children living in low-income communities. The goal was to reduce the children's vulnerability to substance…

MDRC is conducting the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project under a contract with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As part of the multisite Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project, MDRC,…

The experience of Project STAR, an early intervention program for children with acquired immune deficiency syndrome and their families in Boston, Massachusetts, has revealed that successful direct service programs must be family centered and community based, must provide a comprehensive range of services, and must coordinate those services across…

This paper describes an early intervention model demonstration project providing center- and home-based instruction to children with severe/profound handicaps, aged birth to three years, and their parents. The social reciprocity model used, participating children, daily activities, and evaluative findings are discussed. (Author/PB)

This paper describes a model demonstration project to provide inclusive early intervention services to young children with developmental delays and their families. It notes the importance of collaborative partnerships among the significant adults in a child's life as a basis for effective program implementation. The project has three major…

Argues that shortcomings in program implementation and evaluation contributed to failure to demonstrate effectiveness of the Comprehensive Child Development Program (CCDP). Articulates lessons from the CCDP, including addressing roles of demonstration projects and their evaluations, problems in evaluation early in program implementation, the…

The University of Hawaii Department of Special Education conducted the Preschool Preparation and Transition Project, a federally funded demonstration program, to support families and their children with special needs in the transition from infant programs to least restrictive preschool placements. The program addressed this goal through three…

This article describes the three-decade experience in model development and replication and in introducing and sustaining organization change of Child Development Resources (CDR), of Williamsburg, Virginia. CDR provides an integrated system of services for children with disabilities and developmental delays as well as for children who are at risk.…

School districts are central players in the child care delivery system: they operate a mix of child care centers and programs, serve a range of children of different ages, and fund their programs from a variety of federal, state, and local sources. This report provides a range of programmatic and fiscal information about the federal and state…

Responding to an article (EC 618 445) describing an individualized program for young children with severe disabilities, including autism, and their families, this article notes features of the program such as its individualized nature, its emphasis on building capacity in families and early intervention providers, and its integrative practices…

This paper describes five programs of early intervention for children with hearing impairments and their families. Programs are described according to their mission, services, and unique contribution to the field of early intervention. First, essential components of all programs are identified. These are evaluation, audiological management, parent…

In 1992, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) funded four projects for a three-year period to increase the participation of higher education faculty in inservice training for personnel in early intervention. These projects included: the Southeastern Institute for Faculty Training (SIFT), the Northeastern Early Intervention Faculty…

This book describes an intervention framework to help young children (birth to 36 months) who have or are at risk of having a disability, to cope more effectively. The book is written for an interdisciplinary audience including service providers, administrators, researchers, and policymakers. Emphasis is on enhancing the adaptive behavior and…

The papers in these proceedings focus primarily on features of the Head Start Program, contributions made to its research and its future direction. The first part of the proceedings contains presentations from the nine symposia, dealing with the following topics: (1) Head Start demonstration projects; (2) issues relating to education and the…

This booklet presents principles of Project DAKOTA, a demonstration project to provide services to infants and young children with disabilities via their families and community. Project goals are listed, including a focus on those needs considered essential by parents and the use of natural settings and resources for intervention. Guidelines are…