This article determines the prevalence of mental health diagnosis and impairment among 632 participants in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and describes the relationship between these problems and welfare tenure and employment. A random sample of female TANF participants was surveyed in two California counties consecutively for 3…

National surveys that have tracked weight and physical activity in the United States for more than 40 years have shown a continuing increase in the number of overweight children and adolescents. Overweight children and adolescents are showing an increase in diseases related to overweight: Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and…

Adolescent parents and their children are both at critical points in their lives, when their life courses can be shaped toward healthy development, stability, and productivity, or toward life-long poverty and dependency. Efforts to improve outcomes for these young families must take advantage of every opportunity to connect them with the services…

Studies of athletes suggest that they are at increased risk for using alcohol, smokeless tobacco, steroids, and marijuana. They are also a readily available audience during annual preparticiaption physical examinations. In this article, Dr. Werch and colleagues report on the results from their pilot study, using a modified version of STARS (Start…

The Children's Aid Society believes that innovative funding models should be used to train faculty and to provide school-based mental health services to the more than 90,000 children in New York State who suffer from serious mental illness but do not receive treatment. To treat these children's often disruptive, threatening, aggressive and…

We compared family risk and protective factors among potential high school dropouts with and without suicide-risk behaviors (SRB) and examined the extent to which these factors predict categories of SRB. Subjects were randomly selected from among potential dropouts in 14 high schools. Based upon suicide-risk status, 1,083 potential high school…

The authors undertook a review of measures available for assessing outcomes of early childhood services for children with disabilities and their families. With principles of family-centered practice mandating the inclusion of both family and child outcome measures in effective evaluation plans, the review examined measures with established…

Hispanic/Latino students are the largest minority school-age population (Pew Hispanic Center, 2005). In this study, pupil services administrators in Florida identified concerns about Hispanic/Latino children and families and the need for bilingual school counselors for growing numbers of Hispanic/Latino students. Administrators' perceptions of…

This qualitative study presents findings from initial exploratory work that examined how father development workers (FDWs) supported fathers to become involved in their children's learning, within the context of father groups. The study found that there were two main purposes behind the father groups and the subsequent role of FDWs in supporting…

This question-and-answer format paper looks at some of the basic issues surrounding the chronically poor and initiatives and services designed to break the poverty cycle. A first section explores some of the myths and realities surrounding the characteristics of the chronically poor population and notes that this population is comprised of…

This guide offers ideas for adult literacy curriculum development using a participatory approach. Its intent is not to prescribe a curriculum but to raise issues associated with the varied needs of limited-literacy students and with development of curricula to address these needs. An introductory section discusses how the guide evolved and can be…

This paper describes the implementation of a Head Start Family Service Center (FSC) program and discusses the impact of such centers on Head Start preschool education. It reviews the role of current Head Start FSCs on the provision of support services to Head Start families, especially in the areas of adult literacy, substance abuse education and…

This annotated bibliography lists books, papers, manuscripts and articles on higher education curricula for integrated service providers in the fields of health education and social service for at risk children, youth, and their families. The original project that produced the bibliography aimed to prepare professionals to understand the need to…

Designed for use by parents and professionals, this guide provides assistance in finding appropriate financial resources and services for children with special needs in Iowa. Divided into six chapters, the guide presents programs related to education, health, human services, insurance, social security, and other support services. After a brief…

This federally funded project was designed to achieve three goals: (1) to test the effectiveness of an individualized behaviorally based developmental approach to providing early intervention services to very low birthweight preterm infants (and their families) in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU); (2) to evaluate this approach with low-risk,…