In Paraguay conditions for rural children living in poverty are often difficult. At least 14% of children age 5 years and younger show moderate to severe physical stunting (UNICEF 2009). More than half of the children in primary school have repeated at least one grade by the time they complete the sixth grade. Rural families living in poverty, who…

Although the Head Start program places great emphasis on family involvement, educators do not currently have a brief but comprehensive measure to collect information from families about the kinds of learning experiences they provide for children at home. The current study explored the utility of the Family Literacy Survey, a parent-report survey…

At the beginning of 2008, a number of the world's major economies began to experience the effects of the biggest economic financial crisis in history. By the end of that year, the financial crisis was a global recession, and governments responded with changes to a suite of social and economic policies. Two broad stages of government response are…

Since January 1999, all parents in Norway with children aged 1 to 3 years who do not attend publicly subsidized day care are eligible for "cash-for-care" (CFC). One important purpose of the reform is to enable parents to spend more time with their children. We analyze whether the CFC reform has affected marital stability, using…

MDRC is conducting the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project under a contract with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As part of the multisite Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project, MDRC,…

The National Partnership Agreement for Indigenous Early Childhood Development (COAG 2008a) aims to halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five within a decade, halve the gap for Indigenous students in reading, writing and numeracy within a decade, and ensure all Indigenous 4-year-olds have access to quality early childhood…

Biopsychosocial consequences of catastrophic events create an ongoing need for research that examines the effects of mass traumas, developing psychosocial interventions, and advocacy to address the needs of affected individuals, systems, and communities. Because it is neither possible nor necessarily desirable to intervene with all touched by…

JFK Partners, at the University of Colorado Denver, School of Medicine, is currently implementing a study on the use of telehealth (receiving treatment or services using videoconferencing technology, such as Skype) and youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anxiety. The study is an exploratory grant from Health Resources and Services…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

The issue of intensity of services for children in early intervention is a complex one and its determination can be based on many factors, some of which may not be objective; consequently there may be disparities in services provided. Although the Individual with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, Public Law 108-446 (IDEA, 2004) mandates the…

In family-centered intervention, one important issue is to support families' different ways to manage stress. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether professionals encourage positive coping strategies in families of children with disabilities. Data (videotaped planning meetings and interviews) from 5 families enrolled in intervention…

This brief report serves as a call for creative and artistic works relative to family social work. Recognizing the "art" of family social work, Mazza's (2003) multidimensional poetry therapy practice model is used as a framework for addressing all arts-based approaches to practice and research.

In this study we examined the effects of risk factors (perceived neighborhood crime/delinquency problems, neighborhood incivilities) and protective factors (teacher support, family support, peer support) on the school engagement of 123 urban adolescents of color. Age and gender were also examined to determine if different ages (younger or older)…

Discrepancy between bullied victims' experience and their parents' understanding indicates underutilization of family support system, and thus presents an important risk factor. An online survey (N = 300 child-father-mother triads) was conducted to establish a framework that helps distinguish families with different child-parent discrepancy…

Good schools can go a long way toward helping poor children achieve more, but the fact remains that educational inequity is rooted in economic problems and social pathologies too deep to be overcome by school alone. Ending the cycle of disadvantage requires prevention and early intervention programs that help families who are desperately…