Describes the roles of case manager and home visitor in relation to handicapped infants, toddlers, and their families. Strongly advocates combining the roles in this service. (SAK)

Director of Yale University's Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy comments on the lessons learned over three decades on the process of social change. (HTH)

This paper briefly defines parent involvement in education, outlines several factors that are fueling new state interest in programs to strengthen families, describes programmatic initiatives in several states, and examines some of the issues states have faced in their efforts to craft effective community-based programs that are responsive to…

Provides a community perspective of university-community collaborations to develop programs for youth and families. Defines the community and how issues are identified, what universities can do for communities, what communities can do for universities, and how individuals can contribute to collaborative efforts. (HTH)

This article explores the current status in the United States of support to families who care for children with disabilities at home. It summarizes essential program features, program effects, and outstanding issues (such as, ensuring family involvement in policy formation, sufficient funding, and system collaboration). (DB)

This article reviews literature on experiences with the Individualized Education Program (IEP) and the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). It identifies IEP problems (such as poorly written objectives) and positive features (such as better teacher-family relations). The article suggests that IEP/IFSP development flaws may indicate problems…

This article offers guidelines for designing inservice education for personnel working with young children with disabilities and their families. Discussion covers definitions, assumptions, support and start up, initial planning, program design, evaluation, implementation, and follow-up. It identifies special considerations and circumstances…

This policy statement focuses on educators' responsibility to provide programs that meet the needs of young children and their families. The statement is a call to action, urging the development of direct, creative, and expanded assistance that would not only help individual families, but would also be sound national policy. Listed are principles…

Highlights a failure on the part of social services to respond to the current needs of the child welfare system. Strongly advocates a commitment to concurrent planning, defined here as the process of working toward family reunification while at the same time establishing an alternative plan, usually in the form of permanency with a relative or…

Relationships between schools and families of children with learning and behavior problems are discussed in terms of the benefits of parent involvement, barriers to effective home-school partnerships, ways that schools and families can collaborate, and skills that support parent-teacher collaboration. (DB)

Examines the roots of drug/substance abuse and the long-term positive social consequences of good programs for young children, as well as the components of a model drug abuse prevention program that easily can be incorporated into any Head Start, child care, or other early childhood program. (BB)

Explains the need for family literacy programs in Illinois and describes efforts to improve adult and child literacy. Topics discussed include poverty; reading, writing, and computing instruction; interaction between parents and children; families and books; partnerships between state agencies, private organizations, and public libraries; and…

This Texas state plan presents proposals for provision of services to people with autism. It is noted that less than 25 percent of the estimated 8,500 persons with autism in Texas are currently receiving services. Preliminary sections look at the nature of autism, the numbers of Texans with autism, the responsibilities of the Interagency Council…

This paper examines the role that public policy and practice play in supporting the efforts of natural, adoptive, and foster families who have children and youth with disabilities in keeping their families intact. Obstacles and barriers to implementing the philosophy of permanence planning, especially for children and youth with disabilities, are…

This essay discusses methodological and ethical problems in the implementation and evaluation of home-based intervention programs for young children and their families. Part I notes the difficulties in (1) selecting an appropriate research design to evaluate a program (e.g., preventing sample bias), (2) specifying precisely the intervention method…