This packet contains documents that provide information about family and child homelessness and the need to address homelessness within the context of community development. The following sections are included: (1) "Family Homelessness" (Homelessness Information Exchange); (2) "A Report on the 1988 National Survey on Shelters for the Homeless"…

This paper examines opportunities and constraints related to the implementation of activities intended to realize the national education goal that "every parent in America will be a child's first teacher and devote time each day helping his or her preschool child learn; parents will have access to the training and support they need." The first…

This study analyzes major federal programs designed to provide services to children, from birth through age 2, who have developmental delays or a high probability of developmental delays, and their families. Programs were selected based on their provision of education or health-related services to infants and toddlers with handicaps and their…

This manual is intended to accompany technical assistance efforts aimed at improving selected states' home health care programs for children with chronic illness and severe disability. Summary descriptions of funding sources are presented, including purpose, eligibility guidelines, and services covered, as well as additional information as…

As a result of budget cuts and policy changes, health, nutrition, and social welfare programs have been rendered less able to help children and families, particularly those families hard hit by the recession. It is argued that there is no excuse for these cuts and that if the economy were growing and employment levels were high, the budget cuts…

The Family and Life Education program at Aims Community College (ACC) in Colorado began in 1967 as prenatal classes taught by volunteer instructors who were registered nurses with backgrounds in maternal-child health. Currently, the program, which is co-sponsored by ACC and North Colorado Medical Center, involves a program coordinator, three staff…

This hearing examined the history, current status and trends, and strengths of American families. Testimony (1) described the complex and intense daily life of members of blended families and pointed out that social, financial, and other supports needed by stepfamilies are often not available; (2) provided accounts of personal experiences with…

This publication is an edited record of a series of public seminars held between June and October of 1983. The seminars, entitled "Community Based Services for Children and Families," were based on two policy background papers commissioned by the Institute of Family Studies (ISF) on the topics of family support and children's services.…

The general decline in public resources has encouraged government agencies to consolidate job functions, and the internal program evaluator is becoming a scarce commodity. This paper briefly describes a case study about the circumstances and implications of merging two formally antagonistic job roles: program administrator and program evaluator.…

Described are aspects of the Avance Educational Programs for Parents and Children, a non-profit, community-based organization in San Antonio, Texas, with the general goal of strengthening and supporting low income Hispanic families. Introductory remarks focus on the organization's goals, target population, funding, and services. Subsequent to a…

Project SCALE (Satellite Centers for Adult Leadership), an innovative model for literacy instruction, was designed to serve Limited English Proficient (LEP) adults in the San Antonio (Texas) area. The project has received a Family English Literacy grant to replicate and improve this literacy instruction model with LEP adults in rural and urban…

The objective of the Family Support Services Scheme is to find new ways to prevent the breakdown of families and the institutionalization of children. The view taken in this report is that not much progress has been made toward achieving this goal. Criticisms of and recommendations for the scheme include the following: (1) The program attempts to…

Family support services are systematic efforts to support natural, adoptive, or foster families who have a family member with a disability. Programs vary in the types of services offered, goals, and number of families served. The most promising approaches to family support provide services that are flexible and individualized, build on informal…

This paper challenges the traditional view that, in families of children with disabilities, mothers have the primary responsibility for child care because they are the "natural" caregivers. Family support services are an emerging way of delivering services to families of children with disabilities, and they seem to operate within a framework that…

Findings are presented from a project which aimed to estimate the prevalence of developmental disabilities among Navajo children, aged 0-5 years, living in the Navajo Nation; determine what services they and their families require; and recommend policy and practice to assure that needed services are received. Section I provides a description of…