Describes a project at Fort Riley, Kansas, combining military, community and private resources and stressing parent education and problems of isolation and self-concept. (SS)

This paper identifies recurrent themes in prevention of behavioral and conduct disorders, including early intervention and family-focused prevention services; school-based prevention programs (such as peer mediation, social skills training, and self-management training); and within- and across-setting collaboration. Key areas for prevention…

Summarizes the results of a needs assessment survey of 186 disability service coordinators of Head Start programs in one region. Three important challenges were identified: serving young children with emotional-behavior issues, working with families, and working with community institutions. Implications for staff training are discussed. (Author/CR)

A study examined patterns and predictors of service use by 85 families of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) graduates, specifically premature infants. Enabling variables (NICU contacts and follow-up services) and parents' perceptions of children's problems were major predictors of service use. No demographic characteristics predicted service…

Maintains that, as for other families with young children, availability, quality, and cost are important child care issues for families with special needs, including families with single heads of household, families with female heads of household, families in poverty, minority families, and families with handicapped children. (BB)

Discusses the role that parents, schools, and mental health professionals can play in helping children cope with violence. Examines the factors associated with child vulnerability and resilience, posttraumatic stress disorder, the role of parental support in mediating the effects of trauma, obstacles to parental support, school-based…

When funding youth programs in developing countries, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) should consider programs that recognize both the developmental needs of children and socioeconomic factors, that serve youth directly or work indirectly through family and community, and that have proven strategies for stretching limited funding.…

Profiles the Master Teacher in Family Life Program developed by the University of Massachusetts Cooperative Extension Service, which provides training and support to leaders within high-risk communities, who then act as counselors, role models, and advisors to youth and families. Discusses the development of the program in Springfield,…

Profiles the development and operation of a parent center in a Boston (Massachusetts) elementary school, the Paul A. Dever School. The school, with a high percentage of minority and low-income students, finds the parent center an important step in moving toward its goals of success for each child. (SLD)

Explains the need for family literacy programs in Illinois and describes efforts to improve adult and child literacy. Topics discussed include poverty; reading, writing, and computing instruction; interaction between parents and children; families and books; partnerships between state agencies, private organizations, and public libraries; and…

Discusses guidelines for providing quality direct services to Head Start families. Suggests that nonjudgmental attitudes, empathy, instruction, reinforcement, shaping, removal of barriers, contracting referral, advocacy, and other helping skills permit effective direct services. Proposes FNA (family needs assessment) as a valuable tool with which…

Discusses areas where federal oversight of state compliance with foster care case-review guidelines needs improvement. Suggests avenues, such as issuing more clear and precise regulation, by which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could best ensure that children in foster care receive the prompt case review to which they are…

Provides two reviews of "The Child Welfare Challenge," a comprehensive textbook describing the field of child welfare in the United States. Praises the use of theoretical, conceptual, and empirical material which encourages readers to think conceptually and analytically rather than descriptively. Suggests, however, that despite its…

Examined the effectiveness of the Wisconsin Learnfare experiment that requires teens to attend school regularly as a condition of receiving family financial aid. Findings from state social services data reveal that, despite a $1.5 million "savings" attributed to the program between September 1988 and December 1989, tremendous family…

This paper presents a decision model illustrating the role of values in influencing choices between policy options in implementing Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The paper discusses value assumptions, the role of conflicting values in decision making, the concept of an individual hierarchy of values, and implications…