Stories of living on welfare are told by five women and their children. Each represents a group of women who use Aid to Families with Dependent Children. The reasons these women have turned to public aid, and their means of achieving self-sufficiency illustrate why welfare policy and family policy must be redefined to account for the differences…

This report, in both English and Spanish versions, aims to highlight the Bernard van Leer Foundation's identity, objectives, and major activities, as well as the work undertaken by the projects the foundation supports. The review features articles on the Foundation's work on advocacy, supporting families living in disadvantaged circumstances,…

The study described in this issue of "Look at Even Start" evaluated the Staff Mentoring Sites program, a mentoring program provided as technical assistance in Even Start family literacy programs. Staff from five Even Start programs with successful family recruitment and retention records were selected as mentors. Requests for nominations…

Libraries are faced with changing demographics, emerging technologies, and economic shifts. Families once attended library programs as a unit, children began kindergarten at age five, and libraries offered few programs for children under four. Intact and extended families are a thing of the past. Many children today are raised in single parent…

A study of 44 infants and toddlers with disabilities enrolled in 3 diverse early intervention programs in 3 states examined the cost of early intervention services and the core ingredients of hourly service cost. During the 12-month study, all service events were recorded for 1 week per month. Overall, findings revealed an extremely wide range in…

This manual describes the "New Hampshire Leadership Series," a leadership training program designed to assist individuals with disabilities and their families to create a vision for themselves and to achieve positive futures. The manual is divided into six major sections. The first section, "Introducing the New Hampshire Leadership…

This report describes the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waiver to section 1915 (c) of the Federal Social Security Act that was obtained by the New York State Office of Mental Health. The HCBS Waiver affects the services provided to children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances. Three statutory requirements are included in…

This report presents the results of U.S. Senate-House of Representatives conference committee deliberations concerning amendments to S. 2000, the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1994, which is designed to reauthorize appropriations for fiscal years 1995 through 1998 to carry out the Head Start Act, the Community Services Block Grant Act, and…

A profile is provided of the 40 Local Interagency Coordinating Councils (LICCs) in Kansas, which work to develop and coordinate services to infants and toddlers with special needs and their families, as established by Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The profile is intended to describe the status of Kansas LICCs, to…

This practicum was designed to assist parents of juveniles who had been placed in residential care for sexual offenses. Although there was a consensus in the field that inclusion of the family in treatment was essential, few family treatment models were available. No family treatment models were found specific to working with families that had…

In the traditional family preservation model, a family's integrity is preserved by keeping children in the care of their immediate or extended families. Family reunification has involved safely returning children to the custody of their families after a period of foster care. However, families are not preserved solely by family members maintaining…

Visits were made to selected respite care and crisis nursery programs in order to describe the programs and services they offered to families of young children with special needs and to learn more about the families who used the services and the staff who provided them. The visits to 10 crisis nurseries and 24 respite care programs resulted in…

Smart Start is North Carolina's partnership between state government and local leaders, service providers, and families to better serve children under 6 years of age and their families. A formative evaluation of the Smart Start process, to inform the current state-level decision-making processes for future Smart Start efforts, was devised from a…

The GOAL ONE Project of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is designed to ensure that children have access to an environment that provides a foundation for school success. GOAL ONE is a national project involving model, community-based, collaborative programs that provide a nurturing environment for children whose…

This paper examines issues of special needs advocacy in an international context and describes BRUSH (Brussels Support for the Handicapped), an advocacy organization in Brussels, Belgium. The possibility that advocacy is a culturally determined concept is raised. BRUSH is a group of families from the international community of Brussels who provide…