This article discusses the role of organized religion in providing respite services to families of children with disabilities. Respite programs using church volunteers are seen as an opportunity for new and effective partnerships between secular service systems and the religious community. Model programs are described. (PB)

This manual aims to help communities develop a plan to improve services to children from birth to 3 years of age who are chronically ill or disabled, and their families. Section I provides background information needed to begin a Community Approach to an Integrated Service System (CAISS) committee in a community. It addresses the issue that…

This fact sheet offers basic information on developing and implementing rural respite and crisis nursery programs. It first defines "respite" as temporary relief for caregivers and families of children with disabilities, chronic or terminal illnesses, and/or for children at risk of abuse and neglect. It also defines "rural" and…

This article describes development of a collaboration between early intervention service providers and children's librarians to address parental needs for information, referral, and support; provision of inclusion and socialization opportunities for infants and toddlers in local community libraries; and strategies for delivering early intervention…

The report describes a regionalized system of community based child health centers developed in Iowa to provide coordinated secondary level health services for children with chronic illness and handicapping conditions. The system is based on two principles: (1) Communities will be given the responsibility for determining which health services are…

This guide offers an overview of important areas in operating a disability-related information and referral center (I&R) and contains many design and management suggestions. The guide is written for individuals operating or designing a "grassroots" information and referral center with only a few employees but a fair number of…

The demand for long term care is growing as the population in need of services becomes older and frailer, and as the nature of the family, the economy, and the health care system changes. To investigate the long term care system, its characteristics, trends, financing, policies, availability, and quality of care, 700 health care professionals,…

This comprehensive plan for library development in Vermont over a five year period is the result of extensive consultation with professionals in the field, the State Advisory Council on Libraries, and the U.S. Department of Education. Focusing on the role of the Vermont Department of Libraries as the implementor of the long range program of…

The pamphlet describes three Hogg Foundation-funded Texas programs (one exclusively hospital-based, one hospital-based with extensive linkages to community resources, and one community-based) which serve predominantly high-risk, low-income Mexican American families. First described are social work services connected with the Driscoll Foundation…