The difference between charity and change provides an important conceptual distinction for those analyzing service-learning curricula and learning objectives. In the moral domain, service-learning activities tend toward giving or caring; in the political domain, such activities can embrace either civic duty or social reconstruction; in the…

Describes a literature conference for the Harlem community on choosing and using self-affirming books for African American children. Describes Grandma's Place, a literacy and parent support center with an array of multicultural literature. Describes programs and activities that seek to support literacy, strengthen the family, and provide access to…

This commentary discusses the structure of residential care in the United States, the aging of caregivers and the growing demand for services, the increased longevity of persons with developmental disabilities, the long waiting lists for services, and state initiatives to address waiting lists. Policy considerations and recommendations are…

The Ottawa, Canada, Emergency Child Care Research Project examined the impact of emergency child-care service on individuals, families, and an Ottawa-based consortium; the effectiveness of emergency child-care service; and features and practices of consortium models in developing and providing human services. Findings indicated that emergency…

This qualitative study examined perceptions of 248 parents of young children with special needs concerning the benefits, barriers, and improvements needed in current early intervention services in Illinois. Benefits cited included the technical knowledge and skills of service providers; barriers included a need for more specialized child-oriented…

Citing the need for a basic, K-12 developmental framework for service learning, this article describes such a model. This model, an inclusive typology of service learning, distinguishes three levels of service learning: Community Service, Community Exploration, and Community Action. The authors correlate this typology to Piaget's cognitive…

The London Irish Centre is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Set up as a refuge for new immigrants, the centre's focus has changed, as has its client base. Increasingly, as younger members of the London Irish community move away, the centre's work has focused on the learning and support needs of an ageing community. The older generation are coming…

To improve the quality of undergraduate education, the Boyer Commission recommended a culminating, senior capstone course experience to help students draw together their undergraduate curriculum. One way to accomplish this culmination is through a student-designed and implemented community service project within the capstone course. In this…

Civic service, which refers to activities that seek to improve the local, national or international community either through community service or service learning, is widespread in secondary schools around the world. Despite this pervasive presence, there are few studies that approach the subject from a cross-comparison perspective. This article…

This colloquium discusses recent trends where early childhood education and care has shifted from being a community service to that of big business. Years of neo-liberal reform have created market conditions favourable for large corporations to provide childcare within Australia. This situation raises some issues and concerns, particularly in…

Target populations have always been a thorny issue for correctional programs. In this experiment of seamless treatment for probationers in two sites, offenders were randomly assigned to the seamless model (drug treatment incorporated into probation supervision) or traditional referral model to services in the community. The experiment blocked on…

Recognizing the need to be proactive in redefining the role of nursing and allied health practitioners at the associate degree level and transforming curricula to meet the changing demands of health care, the Division of Health Technologies at Northern Virginia Community College, in partnership with local community agencies, implemented the Mobile…

Spurred by sagging retail trade and the need for future planning, the Fort Madison (Iowa) Chamber of Commerce initiated a community survey to determine attitudes of residents towards various community characteristics. A 7-section questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 411 area households, of which 268 or 72.2% responded. Over 75% of…

Innovations in the training of community health personnel that emphasize the importance of the development of health personnel able and willing to serve the community by providing health care, promoting health, preventing disease, and caring for those in need are examined. The need for effective and efficient training programs relevant to present…

The proceedings published in the document are the outcomes from a conference to consider the role of professional nursing in relation to health maintenance organizations (HMOs) as one possible way to improve health care delivery. Emphasis is placed on strategies underlying the HMO concept and reviewing and extending understanding of factors which…