Mental health challenges for youth continue to be a growing concern. Youth-serving organizations have the potential to play a significant role in recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental health challenges in youth. The Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training course is widely used to equip adults working with youth with skills to support…

Students with significant disabilities typically experience poor postschool employment outcomes. However, when provided opportunities to work and engage within their communities, they can gain necessary work-specific and workplace social skills to improve outcomes. This article outlines a six-step model for community-based employment programs…

The workbook suggests a concrete procedure for initiating a cooperative effort to collect and summarize information so that plans can be made for serving handicapped preschoolers. Once the workbook is completed, it can be used as a baseline for evaluating the progress of community activities, to make revisions in the plans and to share changes…

The Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program was evaluated from the standpoint of its impact on three groups: VISTA volunteers, communities served by VISTA sponsors, and sponsoring organizations to which VISTA volunteers are assigned. Survey questionnaires were sent to 1,250 of the 3,400 VISTA volunteers currently in service, 494 current…

This manual is a guide for facilitating a 3-hour community interagency planning workshop on the transition of young children with disabilities and is comprised of a facilitator's manual, a participant's manual, and a preconference packet. The facilitator's manual provides a listing of necessary materials, a general workshop process checklist, a…

Noting that the need for after-school child care will vary considerably by community, this tool kit has been developed to encourage local collaborations of community members to examine the needs and programs for school-age care, with this term including child care before school and during the summer, in their community. The guide provides a…

This 3-year project attempted to: (1) provide direct support to students with severe disabilities in accessing recreation opportunities; (2) develop and present inservice training on integrated leisure opportunities in New England; and (3) disseminate information on ways to integrate school and community recreation activities. The project was…

The monograph examines the status and needs of state family support efforts over the last decade, based on interviews with 83 people in state Developmental Disabilities Councils and various state agencies. An introductory section provides an historical context for family support, presents a synthesis of state family support efforts, and delineates…

This final report describes Project WIN, a 3-year demonstration project in Massachusetts which served children diagnosed as HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) positive and their intravenous drug using parents. The transagency community based model was designed to serve the educational, medical, therapeutic and social needs of 25 preschool children…

A series of self-study questions is presented to examine policy and practice issues important in developing culturally competent programs for children with special needs and their families. Cultural competence refers to a program's ability to honor and respect the beliefs, interpersonal styles, attitudes, and behaviors both of families who are…

This final report describes a one-year qualitative research study that explores service coordination to children with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) and their families. First, the project's conceptual framework, an ecological approach, is briefly explained. Next, the concept of service coordination is discussed, noting the role of the…

This study examined postschool vocational options for people with disabilities in New South Wales (Australia), by means of a survey and interviews with representatives of government agencies, tertiary education facilities, and unions and employer organizations. Results indicated a lack of vocational facilities for young people with severe…

The following were examined: (1) the Department of Transportation's (DOT) efforts to evaluate the Job Access and Reverse Commute (Job Access) program; (2) transportation and related services provided by Job Access; (3) whether the program fosters collaboration between grantees and others in the design, financing, and delivery of those services;…

This report describes the results of a regional needs assessment of workforce issues related to the delivery of community-based services for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance or mental illness and their families in a region comprising 12 southern states. The assessment involved a survey of key stakeholders, principally…

This book presents a rationale for developing new approaches to conceptualizing the costs associated with the implementation and operation of models supporting comprehensive, community-based support systems (CCBSS) for children. CCBSS are broad-based approaches that have no single model or specification for reform; the configuration of the model…