An intervention project concerned with the education of very young, disadvantaged children in an attempt to prevent intellectual deficits in "high-risk" children is presented. The intervention technique employs an intensive educational program for the very young high-risk child, beginning before six months of age. Using survey data, a maternal IQ…

The term "at-risk" has changed significantly in its usage and some of the insights offered by college students studying at-risk youth are presented in this paper. Their observations are grouped under what it means to be an at-risk youth; measurement techniques, such as the status or cohort method, which are used to identify such youth; the…

Describes community service model which focuses upon the causes of problems rather than upon results. The model proposes intervention before crisis by means of an ongoing program for the prevention of future social dysfunctioning. The primary technique employed in prevention is consultation with parents in the setting of the community. (Author/CJ)

This article highlights key features of Multisystemic Therapy (MST), a treatment designed to empower caregivers with the skills and resources needed to address behavioral problems and to teach coping skills to youth. The supervisory, consultation, and program practices that support therapist implementation of MST in community-based settings are…

Describes the application of multilevel statistical models to the evaluation of a multi-site community-based intervention and explicates key issues in the design,analysis, and presentation of results. The initiative described, "Fighting Back, is designed to reduce the demand for illegal drugs and alcohol in a community. (SLD)

The article introduces radical pragmatism, an approach to working with girls in conflict with the law based on experience, research, and theory, including an analysis of the structural and gendered inequities in which girls live and make choices. There are three components. First, abolish punitive practices and stereotypes that do not attend to…

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation began developing a multisite initiative in 1986 that would employ community-generated strategies to reduce the use and abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs. From a community planning phase that began in 1990 through two phases of implementation, the Fighting Back initiative had been in place for twelve years,…

Organizational capacity refers to the ability of nonprofit organizations to fulfill their missions in an effective manner. Through the JVA Consulting Colorado Compassion Initiative, a comprehensive, capacity-building program was developed and provided for faith- and community-based organizations. This study examined faith-based organizations'…

The Join Together National Advisory Committee was created to help communities be more effective in developing and implementing strategies to reduce the harm from substance abuse. Join Together conducted this national report to describe community coalitions and to assess their contributions and needs. The findings are intended to help coalitions,…

This primer on youth development is intended to help communities rethink youth services in the context of the larger community. It offers guidance about the changes necessary to plan for and accept new ideas. The youth development approach advocated by the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) suggests that helping young people achieve their…

The Student Assistance Program (SAP) is a chemical use prevention and early intervention program. Entering the fifth year of implementation, the SAP has expanded from a part-time service contracted with Mental Health to a school-based program serving two high schools and three middle schools. The program is broad based, employing a variety of…

This document presents summaries of the 147 demonstration grant projects sponsored by the federal Pregnant and Postpartum Women and Their Infants initiative, which is jointly funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. This substance abuse prevention grant program, the largest federally funded…

This book presents a comprehensive review of empirical research on early childhood education and human development in Latin America. Commissioned in 1976 by the Office of Latin America and the Caribbean, part of the International Division of the Ford Foundation, New York, the study was two-faceted. First, researchers were instructed to review…

Universities have responded to increasingly imperative societal demands by expanding their public service activities, often in the form of social action programs. This development has not extended to the field of psychology, in which the university psychological center could effectively serve to collaborate on university-community efforts. Such a…