The Rediscovery foundation provides advice and training to Native American and other indigenous communities for establishing and operating wilderness camps to rediscover their ancient ways and connection with the land. Describes a 2-week camping trip in British Columbia with members of the Nuxhalk Nation during which they established a new…

Describes the prevalence and patterns of vision impairment in the Sultanate of Oman. Reviews the types of special education and rehabilitation services offered and future priorities. Concludes that, although at present, few visually impaired children are receiving services, a special education system is evolving into a community-based approach to…

Describes a collaborative community response coordinated by a local school health advisory board (SHAB) that addressed key findings from a youth risk behavior survey. Objective data helped focus school and community efforts, and the leadership of the SHAB successfully partnered a response with a number of community organizations. Surveys showed…

At the core of democratic citizenship is deliberation: citizens' tendency and capacity for debating issues of common importance. This study considers civic organizations--often found to be political mobilizers--as political microcultures: environments for political discourse that structure participants' understanding of the practice of…

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the development of safety, permanency, and child well-being indicators by using administrative data sets as well as by using these indicators as tools for evaluating Florida's Community-Based Care (CBC) initiative. Longitudinal data from 37 counties including 4 counties that implemented community-based…

A literature review was carried out to establish what evidence exists about disabled children's participation in decision-making, both regarding their own lives and about the shape of service delivery. There is evidence that disabled children hold and can express views, given the right environment. However, participation of disabled children needs…

This article profiles Toni Schweitzer, a parent who has a fantastic kindergarten program for her four-year-old twins. The program runs from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the local community school where certified teachers and early childhood educators work side by side to offer a child-centred program that covers her entire working day. The program is…

This article describes the doula concept and role developed by the Ounce of Prevention Fund in Illinois, working with several community partners. Doulas: (1) seek to build sturdy parent-child relationships to promote the healthy intellectual, emotional, and physical growth of children; (2) use a relationship-based model of intervention; (3) are…

Chronic school absenteeism has been identified as a precursor to undesirable outcomes in adolescence, including academic failure, school dropout, and juvenile delinquency. In spite of its effect on adolescent functioning, little research has been conducted to identify effective methods of truancy reduction, particularly among elementary-aged…

There is very little research that directly specifies what programs can do to facilitate positive adolescent development, or how to tailor these programs to the individual needs of adolescents. However, there is a broad base of knowledge about how development occurs that can be drawn upon. Research demonstrates that certain features of the…

Participation in the natural settings of home and community is one of four major goals for families receiving Part C early intervention services. While participation has been formally recognized as an important service-related outcome, there is a need to build knowledge about its key features to adequately apply the concept in practice. The need…

A jogging trail with exercise stations (parcours) in the forty acres next to an elementary school is used for physical fitness and leisurely walks. (MJB)

In May 2006, the National Poverty Center (NPC) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan hosted a meeting--"Research on Prisoner Reentry: What Do We Know and What Do We Want to Know?"--to discuss the state of research on employment-focused prisoner reentry programs. This paper, written as background for…

Superintendents are in the right place at the right time to take advantage of a golden opportunity to reverse a trend that threatens the nation's schools and communities. They are now uniquely positioned to stop the retreat of good-hearted, well-intentioned citizens from public life. In this article, the authors present perpetual traps that…

This study examined perceptions and experiences of youth and adults engaged in various types of community-based youth-adult relationships. Involvement and interaction rating scales were completed by 108 participants involved in community groups from 12 communities in 10 states. The rating scale measured three constructs: youth involvement, adult…