The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) developed the "Strengthening Families Approach and Protective Factors Framework" (SF) and the "Youth Thrive Protective and Promotive Factors Framework" (YT) in response to an urgent need in the fields of child maltreatment prevention and youth services to shift from a primary…

With an increase in students arriving to the U.S. from other countries, many local educational agency (LEA) homeless liaisons have questions about eligibility for services under the McKinney-Vento Act, as well as strategies for best serving these students. This resource provides an overview of the rights of immigrant, migrant, and undocumented…

Community college students are more likely to be low-income, people of color and first generation in their family to attend higher education than their four-year peers. For a combination of these reasons, they are more apt to be housing insecure. This article discusses how some community colleges are providing new solutions for residences for…

The Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) is arguably one of the most extensive extended education approaches established to date. It has sought to create a seamless programme of support for children living in Harlem, from birth to early adulthood, in family, school and community settings. The evidence on HCZ's impacts is limited, but its approach…

Without a doubt, the economy is taking its toll on families, many of whom face reduced wages, unemployment, foreclosure, and decreased--or nonexistent--health care benefits. With this in mind, the Greendale Schools' director of pupil services and this author wondered whether they could offer the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which is designed…

A lack of stable housing creates challenges for students who want to participate in daily school activities, including: (1) getting to school; (2) accessing laundry or shower facilities; (3) finding a place to study or do homework; and (4) staying awake in class because of inadequate sleep the night before. Despite these and the other challenges,…

When caregivers and teachers of young children think about "safety," their first thought may be about the classroom environment and mandated regulations, such as having smoke alarms and conducting fire drills. But they can do so much more to protect the children in their care, and those children's families, by teaching lessons that go beyond the…

The Wellesley Centers for Women recently began a collaboration with one of the major stakeholders in that needs assessment, the Women for Women Coalition, to develop and pilot an ongoing family intervention in New Hampshire. The resulting collaborative project, Africans United for Stronger Families, includes a support group for parents and an…

This article discusses several aspects of language planning with respect to Sign Language of the Netherlands, or Nederlandse Gebarentaal (NGT). For nearly thirty years members of the Deaf community, the Dutch Deaf Council (Dovenschap) have been working together with researchers, several organizations in deaf education, and the organization of…

For decades, family and consumer sciences (FCS) Extension educators have provided health related education to consumers through Cooperative Extension programming at land grant universities. However, offering diabetes education can be extra challenging due to the complicated nature of the disease and the multi-faceted treatment required. Faced with…

Chronic shortages of health, social service, and mental health professionals in rural areas necessitate creative partnerships in support of families. Cooperative extension professionals in Family and Consumer Sciences and community health nurses, who can bring critical skills to human services teams, are introduced as trusted professionals in…

Comprehensive, integrated services for infants, toddlers, and families are essential for optimal child development, and collaboration across systems is increasingly important to maximize limited resources. The authors describe three successful initiatives in Oklahoma that use a collaborative systems approach to providing direct services to young…

This article is intended to provide early childhood providers with a concise overview of emerging emotional development in young children (birth-5), the important role of primary caregivers, and the link between parenting, emotional development, and behavior. Specific suggestions that have been shared with urban Head Start mothers are offered,…

Practitioners, school leaders, and policymakers serving the needs of youth and their families in New Mexico gathered in Albuquerque in June 2009 for four Roundtable discussions on sustaining integrated health, extended learning, and other social services in middle schools across the state that are a part of the Elev8 New Mexico initiative. Elev8…

A university-community collaborative initiative to provide an interdisciplinary approach to personnel preparation is described. Twelve students (i.e., undergraduate, graduate) from various academic disciplines participated in early intervention coursework and practical experiences. Specifically, students were prepared to provide early intervention…