Reviews programs and services available to the elderly, including descriptions of their organizational and agency sponsorship and arguments used to justify or refute their usefulness. Suggests that the discipline of social gerontology can play an important applied role in assessing the needs of and suggesting appropriate services for the elderly.…

Examines the current understanding of the most promising and effective means of serving families. It highlights the family-centered service approach, explaining family support services and family preservation services. Evaluations of the two types of family-centered services are reviewed, and issues related to planning and service delivery are…

Sparked by high-profile cases involving children who commit violent crimes, public concerns regarding child delinquents have escalated. Compared with juveniles who first become involved in delinquency in their teens, child delinquents (offenders younger than age 13) face a much greater risk of becoming serious, violent, and chronic juvenile…

Describes the general characteristics of family support programs in North America. Summarizes the rationale for such programs. Describes an example of a support program, the family resource centers in Canada. Outlines such key planning considerations as the diversity of today's families, needs assessment, program variety, and cultural relevance.…

Explores the role of schools in providing pregnant and parenting adolescents with an array of support services that can mitigate some of the consequences of too early childbearing. Key research findings in the field of service delivery to pregnant and parenting adolescents are summarized to provide a knowledge base on which to build. (SLD)

This report was written to provide a balanced perspective of the problem of adolescent parenthood, with the goal of guiding those responsible for making policy decisions and for developing programs and services for adolescents. It presents innovative approaches developed by educators, health professionals, and others in the areas of pregnancy…

This article reviews the literature on children prenatally exposed to drugs and alcohol, the potential impact on the educational and social services systems, and implications for programing for children identified as behaviorally disordered. (Author/JDD)

In reviewing the literature related to education for family life, this discussion focuses on three main areas: the need for such education, trends in the development of family life education programs, and the results of evaluations of a wide range of programs. Evidence was found concerning (1) the key role families play in their members'…

The village center model is designed to eliminate fragmented social service delivery problems in rural areas. The Whole Village Project at Plymouth, New Hampshire, offers interagency collaboration, local control and leadership, and increased client access to family and child services. Alternative strategies are outlined for development of similar…

This report examines five models of school-based integrated human service programs to evaluate the effects of the programs in light of the growing support for and implementation of these programs. The study examined the following programs: (1) school-based health clinics in Baltimore (Maryland); (2) Success for All (an elementary school-level…

As many as 15 million people living in rural areas report one or more long-term impairments that significantly affect their quality of life. In general, disabled people living in rural areas receive fewer services than do people in urban areas. For example, counties in Montana with the largest population centers received significantly more…

Research pointing to the need for routine support and followup for families with infants leaving Neonatal Intensive Care Units is described. A discharge planning process is then recommended, involving assessing the infant's needs, family functioning, family needs, and cultural considerations and linking families with community services. (JDD)

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…

Intended to help state planners understand and coordinate their program efforts, the guide provides an analysis of major federally funded programs for handicapped and at-risk children from birth to age 6. The following programs and their legislative authority are considered: Medicaid (Title XIX of the Social Security Act); The Early and Periodic…

This document, written for caregivers and professionals working in the fields of education, recreation, and health and social services, presents information about issues and strategies in the provision of services to children from alcoholic families. The first chapter discusses the effects of alcoholism on the family and reviews a whole system of…