This paper presents the process of conducting a community-wide needs assessment that initially focused on soliciting information about childcare needs of families with school-aged children. The researchers were interested in understanding whether the method designed to conduct the needs assessment helped to foster collaboration, trust, and…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

These transcripts provide testimony given on the implementation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program, a program designed to help parents work with their children to improve the educational opportunities for both. Prepared statements and testimony was given by John T. MacDonald, Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education,…

The Families in Education Program, dedicated to nurturing a family-community-school partnership, provides this packet for Wisconsin schools to use throughout the year to promote families and learning. The articles in this packet contain ideas for making family-community partnerships work in the schools. Articles address the following topics: (1)…

A smoking prevention program for Hispanic immigrants in Canada was based on participatory community planning, cultural sensitivity, and a comprehensive health philosophy. After 12 educational sessions, participating children aged 8-14 engaged in more community activism and showed decreased intentions to smoke. Parents, children, and staff were…

Noting that the strength of society is inextricably linked to the strength of its families, this book examines the evolution of current principles and practices in family support, and discusses future directions in quality services, training, and evaluation. The 20 chapters in this book are: (1) "America's Children and Families: An…

The report describes activities and findings of an 18-month project which surveyed day and other non-residential services provided to persons with mental retardation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. An introductory section describes project purposes, followed by a description of project methods (sampling plan, questionnaire development,…

Developed by a group of researchers, administrators, and practitioners, this manual provides a practical guide for improving the coordination of education, health, and human services for at-risk children and families. Divided into three main sections, the guide leads readers through a five-stage process of group collaboration. The milestones in…

Smart Start is North Carolina's partnership between state government and local leaders, service providers, and families to better serve children under age 6 and their families. The aim of the program is ensuring that all children enter school healthy and ready to learn. This study examined parent and business involvement in local Smart Start…

This report documents the planning and development of Families First, an early intervention program to be implemented in Marin City, California. The program has been designed to integrate and coordinate the provision of a wide range of services to families of children from the third trimester of pregnancy to the age of 8 years who live in a…

Focusing on program development and evaluation, this document presents the summative evaluation of the community development component of the Mountain-Plains Career Education Model IV, a residential, family-based education program developed to improve the economic potential and lifestyle of selected student families in a six-state area. The report…

This manual provides a guide for improving the coordination of education, health, and human services for at-risk children and families. The guide leads readers through a five-stage process of group collaboration. The milestones in and obstacles to the process are portrayed through vignettes and case studies that describe the personal experiences…

This report describes the nation-wide evaluation of the Child and Family Resource Program (CFRP), a Head Start-affiliated program designed to elicit community and family involvement in fostering optimum development of preschool children and their families. Evaluations of the planning, initiation, and implementation phases of the program at each of…

This symposium focuses on the development and uses of a comprehensive evaluation system within a long-term research and development project in primary education. Issues and problems associated with this development over the past four years are discussed. These issues and problems include: (1) eudcational accountability; (2) parent participation,…

The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health created the School of the Future (SoF) project to enable selected Texas schools to coordinate and implement school-based social and health services on their campuses and to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method of service delivery by evaluating the project. The projects, each of which involved a middle…