To provide a baseline for assessing how welfare reform affects child welfare agencies, this paper reviews the challenges that state child welfare systems face, and how states respond to these challenges. Information in this paper is based on studies of the 13 focus states included in the Urban Institute's New Federalism project. In each state,…

In 1989, the state of Colorado participated in a policy academy on families and children at risk. The intent of the policy academy was to enable states to develop a strategic plan for families and children that would be family focused with an emphasis on family self-sufficiency, and to begin to create a service delivery system integrated across…

Claims that increasingly, decisions about whether or how resources will be allocated to young children and families will be made at the state level. Explores the questions answered by the policy document, "Map and Track: State Initiatives for Young Children and Families," and the significance of these questions. Highlights findings and…

This manual presents a set of guidelines for persons working at a state level to increase the capacity of the state to plan, manage and deliver child and family services. Part I discusses barriers to change, and outlines the skills and attributes of the capacity builder. Part II briefly describes the actual capacity building process, including…

In 1978, the California State Department of Social Services issued a contract to the Los Rios Community College District to develop training programs for foster parents, prospective foster parents, and agency workers throughout California. Twenty-one California community colleges participated in the Foster Parent Training Program (FPTP) in Spring,…

Intended to help state planners understand and coordinate their program efforts, the guide provides an analysis of major federally funded programs for handicapped and at-risk children from birth to age 6. The following programs and their legislative authority are considered: Medicaid (Title XIX of the Social Security Act); The Early and Periodic…

This report first outlines the status of early childhood care and education in Minnesota, including the effects of an inadequate child care system on families and society. Issues of quality, cost, and availability of care are then addressed and are the basis of the recommendations for a coordinated child care system. Recommendation 1…

This handbook was developed to assist community colleges, foster parent associations, and licensing and placement agencies in planning and implementing foster parent training programs. It is intended to serve as a guide to developing educational offerings in community colleges which meet the needs of the local foster care community. The handbook…

This report presents an approach to welfare reform using the welfare-to-work programs possible under the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) portion of the Family Support Act. The document describes how state and local governments can design and implement two-generation interventions that combine services to help parents achieve…

Articles in seven newsletters of the Intercultural Development Research Association's Mental Health Research Project emphasize community mental health, human, and child welfare services to Mexican Americans, particularly in Texas. Topics include social policy formation in child welfare services, utilization of community mental health clinics…

This manual assists state agencies in developing public policy and programs to address prevention and treatment for the abuse of alcohol and other drugs by women during pregnancy. It stresses the importance of collaborative action among the many agencies involved. The first chapter is a specific call for collaboration, noting several federal…

This report reviews approaches that federal, state, and local governments have used to integrate the delivery of health and other educational and social services to at-risk families, and examines barriers to designing and implementing integrated service delivery systems. The report contrasts "system-oriented" integration efforts, which…

To ensure that all young children enter school in good health, ready and able to learn, and are socially and emotionally well developed, states are challenged by the State Early Childhood Comprehensive System (SECCS) Initiative to assure that services are coordinated, integrated and well managed. States must not only plan the delivery of services,…

During the past three decades, there has been an increase in knowledge about early childhood development. Early experiences can function as either risk factors or protective factors for a child's future health and development. This has led to concern about how current health systems contribute to the quality of the earliest experiences of life.…

Poverty, violence, illegal drugs, and despair dominate the lives of many inner-city children, most of whom are Black and Hispanic. To reverse the social and economic decline of poor neighborhoods in major metropolitan areas, the State of New York has embraced an agenda, outlined here, for rebuilding high-need inner-city communities. (Author/BJV)