The report evaluates the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) in Missouri by comparing the dietary adequacy and nutrition knowledge of 200 program families representative of urban, small town and rural areas with that of 200 similarly representative non-program families. Data were gathered by personal interviews taken in March,…

This volume contains the papers presented at the conference in edited versions along with certain reference materials. As they influenced the proceedings of the task groups, these papers are reflected in the contents of Volume I (SO 000 819). As a group they offer many useful ideas concerning the theory and methodology of family intervention and…

The current capabilities of Federal Agencies to measure the extent to which minorities receive the benefits of Federal domestic assistance programs were evaluated by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The use and collection of racial and ethnic data; responsibility for racial and ethnic data collection and use; and the legal issues of authority,…

Early Head Start is a comprehensive, two-generation federal initiative begun in 1995 aimed at enhancing the development of infants and toddlers while strengthening low-income families. This report contains information from the Survey of Early Head Start Programs. Beyond the need for an updated picture of the Early Head Start program, the Survey of…

The purpose of this hearing was to hear testimony on the effects of welfare reform and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant, and to examine one of the most important work supports available to low-income families, Federal child care assistance. The opening statements were delivered by the Honorable Howard P. "Buck"…

"Data Trends" reports present summaries of research on mental health services for children and adolescents and their families. The article summarized in this "Data Trends" discusses family-based interventions and how they may have both direct and indirect effects. While the measurement of direct outcomes for a targeted group is important, a…

In the wake of welfare reform efforts, the government is willing to provide or finance a wide range of services for working parents and help them purchase child care and child health insurance. Taken together, these services represent a significant attack on child poverty. Based on a basic needs' budget for families and the high proportion of a…

This book contends that learning is enhanced through active involvement in personally meaningful experiences accompanied by processing for meaning and future use. While some processing takes place automatically, much can be done strategically to enhance and generalize learning. Intended as a resource for experiential educators and therapists, this…

Seventy-five families of children with special needs were interviewed after one year's experience with early intervention services and 69 of these families were then re-interviewed a year later after two years of such services. Five themes were identified in the families' views of "what works well." These were: (1) consistency of staff, (2) home…

Access to early childhood education and social exclusion are issues currently of importance for policy and program development in Europe. This paper explores links between early education access and social exclusion in regard to profound and rapid changes in Europe that are forcing families to find new ways to remain integrated within their…

This report is a descriptive analysis of the migrant education Even Start Literacy Program and of families served in 1995-96. The 9 migrant Even Start projects funded in 1995-96 are described and compared to 563 reporting projects nationwide (out of 576 total). Nine state educational agencies received grants to help parents of currently migratory…

This paper discusses the nature and availability of early childhood care and education in Illinois and advances recommendations to improve the current system. It argues that current multiple federal, state, and local funding streams, with different eligibility requirements and administrations, divide families and programs into artificial and…

This paper reports on the development of a set of four family outcomes concerned with the measurement of child growth and development as part of a 5-year project by the Early Childhood Research Institute on Measuring Growth and Development to develop a comprehensive assessment model for young children, birth to age 8, with disabilities. It first…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of a four-year federally supported program to implement and evaluate services to children with deaf-blindness in Mississippi. The program focused on three major goals: (1) identification of eligible participants and maintenance of the Deaf-Blind Registry and census update; (2) provision of…

This issue of the "Early Childhood Bulletin" highlights some of the major concerns raised by parents during the second national meeting of parent members of state Interagency Coordinating Councils (ICCs) for early intervention, which was held in conjunction with the Partnerships for Progress Conference IV in Crystal City, Arlington, VA,…