A simple metaphor about a dipper and a bucket and decades of research to show how even the briefest interactions affect relationships, productivity, health, and longevity, is used in this book. In the short time since the book's release, educators and administrators have already discovered that creating a positive environment can have a powerful…

The United Nations Special Session on Children in May, 2002, was a landmark for children and human developmentthe first Special Session of the General Assembly devoted exclusively to children and the first to include them as official delegates. Participants came together to assess the progress made toward achieving the goals of the 1990 World…

This book is divided into three sections. In the First Section, entitled "Wellbeing and Workload", the authors examine teacher workload and how teachers spend their time. Chapter 1 focuses on what the causes and effects of excessive workload are, especially in relation to wellbeing, stress and, crucially, recruitment and retention?…

This is a practicing managers' guide for gaining the ability to thrive during change, for leaders of any kind of organization. Resiliency is defined, its components described, and its importance explained. Concrete examples of resiliency and questions that can determine degree of resiliency are provided. Resiliency is not described as being…

As part of the ongoing efforts in the state of Alaska to improve the health and well-being of the state's young children, the Alaska Departments of Education and Early Development and Health and Social Services are collaborating to develop a plan to address the critical outcomes and strategies that will support and improve the lives of Alaska's…

Noting the relatively little attention focused on linking child welfare practice with health care, early intervention, and other strategies that could effectively address the risks faced by young children in foster care, this policy paper is intended to challenge communities across the country to attend to the needs of children in or at risk of…

The controversies in adoption have extended across a spectrum of policy and practice issues, and although the issues have become clear, resolution has not been achieved nor has consensus developed regarding a framework on which to improve the quality of adoption policy and practice. This book is the third in a series to use an ethics-based…

Noting that modern governments have a choice between a deliberate, coherent family policy and one of inconsistency and mischance, this paper presents the family policy of Quebec as a model of a coherent set of measures aimed explicitly at family well-being. This policy, started in the late 1980s, was put into place through the appointment of a…

In May 2002, participants at the United Nations General Assembly's Special Session on Children committed to a set of specific goals for children and youth and a basic framework for meeting these goals. This report compiles the commitments that were part of the Special Session: (1) the Millennium Development Goals, earlier pledged to by all 189…

This study used data from the National Survey of America's Families to examine contemporaneous relationships between patterns of parent work and positive child outcomes among low-income families by focusing on how parents organized their work schedules, relationships between patterns of parent work and child wellbeing, and relationships between…

All persons are born and blessed with a creative nature, and are all artists of their own lives. By the time individuals reach adulthood, however, most of them have lost touch with their creativity, believing only "others" are "artists." Awareness of and regular use of the creative aspect of their being makes substantial…

This paper examines recent research on grandparents in American society. The review begins with a description of two key demographic changes that have altered the nature of grandparenthood: increased life expectancy and new rhythms in the family life cycle. Variations in the grandparent role are then discussed, including the development of…

The highlights of this statistical update include a new profile of the extremely poor, poor, and near poor population of young children; the use of an alternative measure of young child poverty that provides new insights into the impact of programs and policies on the economic well-being of young children; and a brief examination of why the…

This report of the Canadian Institute of Child Health (CICH) is the third to document indicators of the health and well-being of children and youth in Canada. The report is presented in 10 chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the demographic situation in Canada and introduces the key areas. Chapters 2-5 profile successive stages in child…

This report provides a comprehensive look at the challenges facing mothers and children during and after armed conflict. The examination is divided into the sections "Mothers in War,""Mothers Rebuilding," and "Call to Action." Key findings include the following: (1) the nature of war has changed dramatically in recent…