Federal funding of the National Head Start/Public School Transition Demonstration Project (NTP) is one of the ways in which the federal government has worked to put the National Education Goals into practice. South Dakota is one of the 31 sites that receive comprehensive NTP services. Family service coordinators (FSCs) provide services at the…

A study examined the home literacy practices of 180 low-income Latino recent-immigrant families participating in a 3-year family literacy program. Data were gathered from videotapes of literacy interactions between parents and children using children's literacy materials, audiotapes of naturally occurring conversation among family members,…

The emerging role of the family service worker is investigated in this paper. The family service worker, whose role is a result of school/community integration efforts, acts as a special resource to both schools and families, linking the educational and human service systems to maximize support for families. The Northwest Regional Educational…

This book explores why past efforts to reform the human services system have had marginal impact in improving the quality of life for children and families, and offers new directions for future social service reform. Chapter 1 examines the sociopolitical antecedents of service integration that have emerged from the uniquely democratic experience…

This text is on transdisciplinary team assessment of infants and toddlers at developmental risk and emphasizes both the dynamics (interpersonal strategies) and the mechanics (team assessment strategies) of teamwork. Emphasis is on assessment for the development of Individualized Family Service Plans. Chapter 1 reviews major developmental…

Federal regulations have set forth specific performance standards for the provision of services for children with disabilities in Head Start programs. These regulations provide state and local education agencies and Head Start grantees with unique opportunities to collaborate to provide comprehensive, family-centered, and appropriate services to…

As early childhood programs face the challenges of becoming more comprehensive, better coordinated with other service providers in the community, and better attuned to the importance of consistency of care between home and child care, the demand to integrate early childhood education and child care with family support is growing. This report…

This report summarizes a postconference evaluation of the "Linking Family and Community Strengths" conference, held in Louisville, Kentucky, in June 1996, and describes 12 community projects based on conference lessons. Six months after the conference, an evaluation was completed by 100 of 192 participants. The conference aimed to…

Smart Start is North Carolina's partnership between state government and local leaders, service providers, and families to better serve children under six years and their families to ensure that all children start school healthy and prepared to succeed. Local Smart Start partnerships spent much of their first year formulating long-term plans,…

This guidebook was developed to offer program ideas and resource aids that can help address some major barriers to student learning and performance. Much of the focus is on early-age interventions, but some is on primary prevention and some is on addressing problems as soon after onset as feasible. The material is organized into a set of units,…

This document consists of the first three issues (1997 output) or the serial "Early Development." The publisher of this journal, the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has more than 60 state and federally funded projects, most of which focus on early childhood development of…

Can the contemporary family's problems be solved in ways that seemed effective in the past? The extent to which the family has changed argues in the negative. The American family has been stripped of two of its traditional social functions: serving as a unit for economic production and as a school for the vocational training of children. The first…

The Australian Family Income Transfer Project (AFIT) is designed to examine the impact of government policies on the economic wellbeing of Australian families. The AFIT Project uses published national statistics as well as data and information collected by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (the project's sponsor) in its own studies and…

A meeting of professional experts in pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) focused on gathering current expert opinion regarding assistance to families with a child having such an injury. Quantitative data from an ethnographic survey of 214 parents on the effects of TBI on the family is summarized. Then, normalization for families of TBI children…

Respite care provides relief or backup emergency care for families of individuals who are developmentally disabled. In sparsely populated rural areas, center-based urban models for service delivery and provider recruitment and training may be inappropriate. Las Cumbres Learning Services has developed a model for provision of respite care services…