Needs assessments require staff with the necessary expertise to design the study, collect the data, analyze the data, and present results. They require money, time, and persistence, because the people one wishes to assess often are difficult to access. This article argues for the centrality of a well-done needs assessment when developing services…

In February, 1992, the Child Development Programs Advisory Committee and the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) hosted a conference that explored child care planning on a city, county, and state level. Introductory activities included a synopsis of the work of the CSAC, and a talk by California first lady Gayle Wilson, who called for…

In 1978, the California State Department of Social Services issued a contract to the Los Rios Community College District to develop training programs for foster parents, prospective foster parents, and agency workers throughout California. Twenty-one California community colleges participated in the Foster Parent Training Program (FPTP) in Spring,…

This report documents the development and progress of Marin City Families First (MCFF), a project undertaken in Marin City (California) in 1993 by the Far West Laboratory's (FWL) Center for Child and Family Studies. Its goal was to develop a model comprehensive child and family support system for low-income communities. In pursuing its objective…

This is a report of a three-year demonstration and research project which addressed itself to three objectives: (1) To explore the need for planned, long-term foster family care for minority children as one of the services to be made available by a multiple child welfare services program in a public agency. (2) To assess the readiness of seniors…

This handbook was developed to assist community colleges, foster parent associations, and licensing and placement agencies in planning and implementing foster parent training programs. It is intended to serve as a guide to developing educational offerings in community colleges which meet the needs of the local foster care community. The handbook…

The federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) has launched a five-year initiative that will support state efforts to build comprehensive early childhood service systems. This initiative--the State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (SECCS) Initiative--provides planning and implementation grants to the state and territory Maternal and…

The UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities (CHCFC) has developed the School Readiness Critical Pathways (SRCPs) as an evidence-based conceptual model that links related outcomes and strategies. This helps to organize an array of broad and diffuse evidence regarding the strategies that produce school readiness outcomes for…

In 2003, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) released a "Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Health." In recognition of the critical role states play in the development of early childhood initiatives and of the unique contributions that state Title V programs can make to these initiatives, the Bureau operationalized their…