Presents a nonbureaucratic model of mental health service delivery: the Family Life Center in Columbia, Maryland. Describes services through three programs: a counseling service, community services, and an information and referral service. Professional volunteers work with clients referred by counseling coordinators. Discusses implications for…

This study addressed concerns of Pennsylvania legislators and government departments by examining coordination between education and other human service agencies in three program areas: early intervention (for preschool handicapped children); student assistance (for drug and alcohol abuse and other teenage problems); and teenage pregnancy and…

Proposes a framework for assessing how human service delivery systems function. Identifies factors that influence the ability of agencies to operate as a unified system. Provides an accurate picture of how services are delivered to target populations, and why various systems function as they do. (Author/JAC)

This briefing report presents preliminary results of a review of the effects of the 1980 foster care reforms. Particular attention was given to federal incentives for reform built into the requirements for the states' receipt of additional funds under the Child Welfare Services grants program. A total of 116 studies, reviews, and commentaries were…

Discusses demographic characteristics of the homeless and considers the causes of homelessness. Reviews programs, services, and recent federal and local government attempts to solve this problem. Calls for a comprehensive service system for the homeless, which would include emergency shelter and crisis intervention, transitional community…

This booklet summarizes the findings and recommendations of an evaluation of the Australian government's programs and services for migrants. Rollowing a description of the organization of the full report, three opening chapters provide, respectively, (1) a broad overview of the evaluation; (2) a discussion of its approach and methodology; and (3)…

Home care programs emerged as an essential component of health care for the elderly and are generally based on hospital or community models. These models coexisted in Manitoba as elsewhere, but services were uncoordinated, fragmented, restrictive, duplicative, and not universally available. In September 1974, a comprehensive home care program was…

There is a need for community-based, culturally sensitive, cognitive-behavioral interventions to reduce sexual risk behavior among minority adolescents. Studies of adolescent risk and protective behaviors have focused on identifying modifiable psychosocial variables that predict differential outcomes for subsequent intervention efforts. Research…

Service learning has been found to be a potentially powerful dropout prevention tool. Service learning combines community service with learning activities. Participating students must be engaged in significant, well-planned, and genuine service. Second, they must reflect on their experiences of serving others to ensure a complete learning…

This report provides an overview of research findings on major Federal welfare system design issues. The report is based on: a review of 100 major welfare studies completed since 1975; interviews with Federal, State, and local welfare officials; the results of the General Accounting Office's (GAO) welfare work; and an analysis of the Census…

The high cost of providing medical care through Medicaid has prompted the federal government to examine ways to constrain costs. One experiment to limit Medicaid costs is Arizona's Health Care Cost Containment System, under which the state contracts with prepaid health plans to provide comprehensive medical care for a set monthly fee per patient.…

In the Washington State juvenile justice system, serious or repeat offenders receive the full panoply of due process rights and procedures, with the exception of jury trials; minor offenders are diverted to community boards that require community service or victim restitution; and status offenders are removed from the courts' jurisdiction and…

Discusses the use of public television as a means of providing mental health outreach services for the community. Describes a weekly program, "The Black Family," broadcast in Jacksonville, Florida, which focused on family relationships, social issues, and mental and physical health, using a call-in format that allowed viewer participation. (JAC)

This report presents highlights of a seminar which focused on solutions emerging at the local and state level to keeping troubled families together. Comments by these panelists are summarized: Elizabeth Cole, a consultant to many family preservation projects; Kristine Nelson, a researcher on the social work faculty of the University of Iowa; Bill…

Reviews literature on intervention programs for adolescent mothers. Focuses on specific goals: minimizing obstetrical complications, fostering positive parent-child interactions, reducing social isolation and maximizing support, and eliminating repeat out-of-wedlock pregnancies. Reports that all programs reviewed displayed moderate success, and…