The team approach recognizes that children have multifaceted needs that cannot be effectively addressed by a single service provider. Although "Partnerships in Family-Centered Intervention" is directed toward early-intervention settings, it is a useful text for preservice teachers, family members, and others involved in the educational process.…

Describes how the clinical early intervention assessment report (CAR) can be used as a tool to promote family-centered practice. Strategies and examples for incorporating a family perspective into the CAR are presented, along with suggestions for using family-friendly terminology. An example of a rewritten CAR is provided. (Author/CR)

A mother discusses her family's experience in transitioning her daughter from early intervention services to an early childhood program. Helpful strategies that the early childhood staff used are identified and include introducing families to teachers during the transition process and allowing parents to visit the program before sending their…

A partnership between local community, business, and education leaders and the Santa Barbara County Education Office spawned Computers for Families--a program putting computers in needy families' homes. Adjudicated youth at a residential boys' camp gain vocational skills when refurbishing donated computers for families' use. (MLH)

This qualitative study examined the perspectives of three families and the early interventionist in a family-centered early intervention program. Included among the six major issues are: (1) identifying and meeting child or family needs, (2) meaning of child-focused or family-focused intervention, (3) use of family resources or professional…

Introduces theme issue on assessing outcomes in children's services, based on presentations given at a conference in September 1997. Articles in Part 1 deal with assessing outcomes for services to all children in need. Articles in Part 2 focus on initiatives in Britain and elsewhere related to the Looking After Children project, dealing with…

Describes study of administrative data from Northern Ireland on the costs of family and child care services, using small area utilization modeling, to derive a new set of needs indicators that could be used within the family and child care capitation funding formula. Argues that small area utilization modeling produces a fairer and more equitable…

This article profiles the Hope Infant Family Support Program in San Diego, California, and its shift to providing educational services in the natural environment. How the program managed this complex change process is discussed, including the development of a vision statement, incentives, skill development, resource allocation changes, and action…

Qualitative analyses were conducted to examine family factors related to individual differences in the early school success of children born to low-income adolescent mothers from the perspective of paraprofessional family advocates. These families were participants in a 5-year family support program. Achievement test scores and teacher ratings…

Comments from parents such as, "It's nice to work with someone who understands how complicated my life is"; "I know when I make a decision about my child, my home visitor will respect it"; "Now, I feel like I can help my child learn"; and "I enjoy being with my child so much" are great to hear. These types of comments let early interventionists…

A significant challenge in the field of early childhood special education is providing qualified personnel to serve young children with special needs and their families. Though many personnel development programs acknowledge the need for interdisciplinary preparation of diverse students who are culturally competent, faculty and trainees continue…

With the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (P.L. 104-193) of 1996, also known as the Welfare-to-Work Act, Aid to Families with Dependent Children was abolished and replaced with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). A new system of block grants to states for TANF was created, changing the…

Family homelessness has emerged as a serious global problem (Stronge, 2000). Over the past 25 years in the United States, the makeup of the homeless population has changed significantly. As De Angelis (1994) reports: The landscape of homelessness has changed since the early 1980s, when nearly all homeless people were men. Today,…

This study examined the influence of witnessing violence, peer provocation, family support, and parenting practices (monitoring and discipline) on aggression. Participants were 1,196 ninth graders at nine schools in poor, predominantly agricultural, rural communities who completed measures of these variables. Witnessing violence, peer provocation,…

This article identifies themes of continuity and change related to the well-being and development of infants and toddlers. The author describes several particularly striking changes over the last 25 years of research and practice in early childhood development. (1) The infant-family field has grown in many professions from a marginal area to a…