This article on the use of community resources by families of young children with special needs discusses the rationale for the use of community resources in federal legislation, strategies for building resources, barriers to the use of community resources, and recommendations for increasing the use of community resources. (CR)

Describes the mentorship programs of the Midtown Education Foundation (MEF), Chicago (Illinois), an initiative that began as an outreach of the Catholic Opus Dei movement. The MEF emphasis on biblically based character development, taught by role models, and embedded in an academic curriculum, is very popular. Early evaluation indicates that best…

An examination of expenditures, staffing, and outcomes for 116 adults with severe mental retardation who moved from state institutions in Minnesota to community living settings and a comparison group of 71 persons who remained institutionalized, found community residences were less costly, had more favorable staffing, and better outcomes.…

Responds to a critique of "The Small ICF/MR Program: Dimensions of Quality and Cost" (Conroy), that questioned the research design of the study. It emphasizes the significantly higher quality of life ratings for community living arrangements in opportunities for choice-making, integration, individualization, and other measures. (CR)

This article describes an innovative model for supporting high-risk teens, including those in special education, who need social skills to protect them from sexual assault. Suggestions are made for prevention activities and involvement of community agencies with expertise for providing critical transition services to at-risk adolescents. (Author)

Shares the story of how dance and writing brought together a group of elderly and high-school-age women, through a 12-week program that used dance and writing to draw from personal stories and to inspire personal expression. (SR)

Addressing the "death of hope" in rural Nebraska during the 1980s farm crisis, the "School at the Center" project engages rural schools and communities in active learning projects: housing or historic-building repair, environmental repair, microenterprise development, exploration of local cultural heritage, and technology…

Examines lessons learned from a 5-year project designed to develop, implement, and evaluate a multifaceted community health advisor-based intervention to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease among older, rural, African American women. Data from observations surveys, and discussion groups highlight six lessons (e.g., establish personal working…

This analysis of the transformation of the Charles Sturt University Regional Archives from a library special collection to a multi-function regional repository highlights the importance of stakeholder interests in determining institutional configurations and collection development priorities. It also demonstrates the critical importance of…

Community-based distributors (CBDs) have been trained and utilized to promote a variety of health commodities. In addition, a variety of different types of community residents have been trained ranging from traditional birth attendants (TBAs) to patent medicine vendors. A training programme for CBD agents in the Akinyele Local Government Area of…

This article describes a model of participatory action research and service-learning conducted with urban, high school African American, West Indian/Caribbean, and Puerto Rican/Latino youth and adult facilitators, in a nonclassroom setting, in a mid-sized northeastern city. Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) integrates critical theory,…

This article introduces an approach to service learning based on students' collective engagement with a range of community organizations. We explore the particular benefits of this comparative collective community-based (CCC) learning model through a discussion of the "Possibilities for Change in American Communities" program, which was begun by…

Objective: Too often communities remain silent in response to cases of sexual assault of children. Members of the community are afraid to report such incidents and victims are reluctant to seek and accept treatment. The purpose of the paper is to examine whether application of a social marketing approach may serve as an effective means for…

This study examined long-term effects of a school/family/community substance abuse prevention partnership intervention lead by a Midwestern school district. Previous findings suggested that the program contributed to decreased tobacco and marijuana, but not alcohol, use prior to and after implementation between 1987 and 1991. The current study…

Correctional facilities are under increasing pressure to respond to the treatment needs of mentally disordered offenders during their incarceration and to arrange for treatment post release through reentry planning. This paper constructs cost estimates for three different reentry investments using data on the population (n = 2715) of male mentally…