Interview with Nancy Landon Kassebaum, third-term Senator from Kansas. Discusses the Head Start program, particularly funding and how it fits into welfare reform. Shares some of her home state's efforts with regard to the national education goals; family issues such as job training, literacy, safe child care, and preventive health care; and…

At an urban, predominantly African American middle school, the authors addressed parents' concerns (adolescent development, self-esteem, family communication, behavior management, peer pressure, sexuality, and substance abuse) through a series of six Saturday workshops. Parents were randomly assigned to one of three models: directive,…

A program for legally mandated training of foster and adoptive parents in rural Oregon is described. The development of this program and its funding sources can serve as an example for other rural areas. (BC)

Lists candidates for National Head Start Association (NHSA) elected positions and announces four new awards sponsored by the NHSA. Recognizes the Missouri State Highway Patrol for its work with Head Start children. Presents a draft report on the NHSA Quality Initiative, a system designed to promote quality in Head Start and to provide challenges…

This article presents a framework for providing services to infants with disabilities and their families, by conceptualizing early intervention in terms of levels of prevention. Primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention are proposed to prevent the manifestation, severity, or extended impact of developmental delays; and implications for…

It is suggested that those championing the growing national family literacy movement in the United States miss the point that society itself, not the families, constructs the conditions of poverty. Implications for meaningful change are discussed. (Contains 13 references.) (LB)

Argues that home visiting and related services have been shaped and constrained by the tendency to use services as a substitute for adequate income and economic opportunity, by ambivalent attitudes toward poor people, and by a preoccupation with the effects of poverty on child rearing. Proposes basic principles of practice that should guide early…

Two approaches for early intervention with Head Start children are described: a child-centered intradynamic approach using one-to-one play therapy, and a family-centered ecological system which works with the family unit and other support agencies. Criteria are discussed for determining the applicability of either modality in individual cases.…

A study involving 64 Australian parents of children with mental retardation (ages 4-31) found no significant differences between mothers and fathers in terms of their general positivity-negativity, but that fathers were less represented by overall responses than mothers. Significant differences were also found between subgroups of mothers.…

Presents information to facilitate ideal family involvement in early intervention. Strategies for conducting family assessments while building collaborative partnerships with families are presented. Characteristics which produce effective collaborative partnerships are reviewed, and the reality of working with families is presented through two…

Major components of the social support and social systems approach to early intervention are reviewed, reflections are presented, and the future use of the model are discussed. The paper concludes with an overview of a "third generation" model integrating new evidence for studying and practicing family systems intervention. (Contains extensive…

Explores a socially resilient system of care and two key elements of the wraparound process: cultural competence and discovering family strengths, preferences, voice, and choice. Demonstrates the basic elements of an organized, resilient system of care and community strengths and includes exercises in social resilience, cultural competence, and…

Reviews recent studies of family preservation and related family-strengthening programs. Estimates the effect sizes of outcomes in studies with control or comparison conditions. Also identifies a set of core services that characterize innovative family preservation programs in child welfare, multisystemic family treatment in juvenile justice, and…

Outlines a conceptual model of parental involvement in family support programs, anchored in ecological and family systems frameworks. Proposes that parental decisions to enroll and remain in support programs are shaped by a variety of factors at different levels of influence, including individual characteristics of the parent and family, provider…

Evaluates an attempt to establish a support group for parents and relatives whose children were in the care of one health board, based on a qualitative study supplemented by individual interviews. Shows that this support group was successful. Suggests ways in which the therapeutic potential of such groups could be enhanced and more parents…