Designed for parents who wish to develop local respite care services for families with disabled children, this primer outlines strategies for: evaluating current available services and programs; pulling people together; conducting a needs assessment; raising money; and writing a proposal. (CB)

This manual aims to help communities develop a plan to improve services to children from birth to 3 years of age who are chronically ill or disabled, and their families. Section I provides background information needed to begin a Community Approach to an Integrated Service System (CAISS) committee in a community. It addresses the issue that…

Representatives were surveyed from 36 parent training programs dealing with school-to-adult-life transition, to identify practices which appeared to correlate strongly with positive outcomes for parents, professionals, and children/youth with special needs. Strategies which were identified as essential to parent/professional collaborative training…

This project was designed to identify effective parent/professional collaborative training strategies related to transition. Following a review of the literature on collaborative efforts, methodology is presented for a survey of 36 programs. The survey addressed four key areas: elements related to the type and level of training, demographic…

The report presents evaluation data on the Cross-Program Training Project to train foster parents, teachers, and social workers who are jointly responsible for the care of special needs children, especially preschoolers. The project featured five major components: (1) site development, (2) training needs assessment on which to develop programing,…

This paper provides a brief review of the issues regarding families in early intervention programs for handicapped children and proposes the assessment of family needs as a first step in designing family-focused interventions. While traditional approaches to early intervention tend to be exclusively child-focused, professionals are encouraged to…

This handbook suggests to parents ways to plan, develop, and implement an after school child care program. Following a description of the initial child care needs assessment in the community, guidance for deciding the appropriate program type and step-by-step administrative instructions for establishing the program as a business are given. The…

The purpose of this handbook is to provide guidelines for developing and implementing structured parent/community involvement programs in bilingual education and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in local school districts. Section One concerns the assessment of school, parent, and community needs; this section contains suggestions for…

This guide aims to provide a practical and comprehensive overview for United Kingdom parents and professionals wanting to support family learning at any level--community, local, regional, or national. Part 1 sets out the case for family learning today. Chapter 1 defines family learning and explains the fundamental principles underpinning it.…

The purpose of this guide is to assist those involved in the transition planning process to help students with disabilities achieve a smooth transition from school to adult life. The guide addresses topics that deal with the preparation of students with disabilities as they leave high school. The guide's eight chapters deal with: (1) defining…

The purpose of this guide is to assist those involved in the transition planning process to help students with disabilities achieve a smooth transition from school to adult life. The guide addresses topics that deal with the preparation of students with disabilities as they leave high school. The guide's eight chapters deal with: (1) defining…