First five years are identified as a critical period of child growth in scientific literature. In 1998, California voters passed Proposition 10 that appropriated a 50 cent per pack tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products to support early childhood development. As a result, Kern County Children and Families Commission administered over $10…

This article presents the results of a survey conducted with 44 adventure programs working with families. Results of the survey show that the majority of families served by family adventure programs are step families. The source of the programs' primary referrals were mental health or medical staff. Programs reported that they worked almost…

Using the same approach of family involvement and empowerment that has guided Head Start, Early Head Start offers its services to pregnant women and children, birth to age 3. One of the characteristics that differentiates Early Head Start from traditional Head Start is the mandate to offer full-day, full-year services to infants and toddlers. The…

A model program to provide family services, the Family Center is a facility of a public school system in Clayton, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Components of the program include parent classes based on the age and developmental level of the child; workshops; informal support groups; individual counseling; activity workshops; for parents and…

A pioneering residential child care project in inner city Dublin began operations in July 1981. The project was designed to function as a resource for seriously deprived or at-risk children and their families. The community served is one characterized by exceptionally high unemployment, a 10 percent rate of heroin addiction among local 15- to…

Based on the belief that critical thinking patterns, language abilities, and social skills that develop from birth to age 6 are foundational to children's sociomoral development, the Phoenix Project was developed to explore the factors contributing to and affecting children's sociomoral development. This pilot project was carried out by the…

This paper describes the Family Development Project which is aimed at developing a systematic model of parenting support for new families and evaluating its effects on family development. The project focuses on Parenting Groups consisting of 6 to 10 couples who meet together as soon after delivery as possible, weekly for 6 weeks, and monthly for 4…

The Healthy Steps for Young Children program is a national initiative developed by pediatricians from Boston University in collaboration with professionals from the Commonwealth Fund. This program for families with young children (birth to 3 years of age) provides developmentally--oriented services within pediatric primary care through addition of…

This paper reviews the work of Ira Gordon in parent education from 1966 to 1978, presenting societal trends and the ways in which these trends were reflected in both his research and in his parent education programs. Gordon's work in the area of child and family services is traced through six programs in terms of societal perceptions of families…

This paper is a description and an evaluation of the Families First program in Sydney, Australia. The Families First program was set up to provide innovative family-centered early intervention services to families with young children with disabilities from birth to school age living within the South-Western Metropolitan Health Region. The program…

Kamehameha Schools' Prekindergarten Educational Program (PREP) was started in 1978 to prepare at-risk Hawaiian families and their children for success in school. PREP's direct services include: (1) parent-infant educational services, including home visits to help parents prepare for a new baby and later learn appropriate child development…

The Adolescent Diversion Project, an alternative to court processing for juvenile offenders, employs intervention strategies of behavioral contracting and advocacy. Youth (N=73) were assigned to one of three conditions: (1) the control group receiving usual court treatment; (2) the family condition involving a trained undergraduate volunteer who…

This document reports on the Family Development Project which is aimed at developing a systematic model of parenting support for new families and evaluating its effects on family development. Parenting groups of six to ten couples begin meeting about six to eight weeks after delivery and meet weekly for six weeks, then monthly for four more…

This model describes an educational intervention program, designed to meet the special needs of pregnant and parent teenagers by helping students to develop skills in optimal functioning and self-awareness and to build responsibility in fulfilling a new role. The program components deal with vocational and family life education to learn about…

This question-and-answer format paper looks at some of the basic issues surrounding the chronically poor and initiatives and services designed to break the poverty cycle. A first section explores some of the myths and realities surrounding the characteristics of the chronically poor population and notes that this population is comprised of…