Investigating children's outdoor play unites scholarship on neighborhoods, parental perceptions of safety, and children's health. Utilizing the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (N = 3,448), we examine mothers' fear of their 5-year-old children playing outdoors, testing associations with neighborhood social characteristics, city-level…

"Veteran parents" (VPs), or parents who have experienced challenges concerning their children's health and then mentor other families through similar situations, are widely used for parent support. This model has been adopted by Child Protective Services (CPS) to increase parent engagement. Here, we expand the theoretical discussion of VPs in CPS…

Critiques 3 policy goals of quantitative child support guidelines using a sample of 492 court case records. Child support awards deviated downward from the guidelines, particularly at higher income levels of obligors and upward from the guidelines at lower income levels. Custodial parents contributed higher proportional shares of money income to…

Reviews federal and state law on one issue--stepparent support of stepchildren--and outlines the areas in which social science research is needed for policy development. (Author/BL)

Data on 96 foster families with a foster child and a birth child between the ages of 10 and 21 years were used to analyze the association between support and conflict processes within the foster family and youths' reports on four indexes of well-being: self-esteem, self-efficacy, emotional problems, and behavioral problems. The self-esteem of…

Evaluated family preservation program using pre- and postservice assessment of risk of out-of-home placement for 995 families. Found modest, but statistically significant, increases in family functioning during services, as measured by scales assessing parent-centered, child-centered, and economic risk. Instrument-assessing risk did not predict…

Identifies the types of formal and informal supports that are used and desired by families parenting children with special medical, behavioral, or developmental needs. Results indicate that informal, agency-linked resources, such as access to family-resource-support specialists and experienced "master" adoptive parents, appear to be…

Summarizes research findings about latchkey situations. Suggests activities and programs which involve parents, schools, and community. Provides potential resources for programs for use by practitioners. (Author/NB)

Responds to previous article by Fincham, Beach, Moore, and Diener (this issue) on child sexual abuse. Focuses on importance of recognizing that attempts to reduce probability of false claims of child abuse would result in increasing probability of missing true claims of child abuse. Offers hypothesis-testing framework as useful heuristic for…

Victims of child abuse and neglect and children of divorce need independent representation in court. States are required to provide representatives for all eligible children. Literature review identified three major barriers to effective representation: lack of qualified personnel, insufficient funding, and time and compensation constraints.…

Compared teenage (N=62) and older mothers (N=31) of preschool children to examine factors influencing developmental differences in children. Several potentially critical differences in backgrounds, knowledge, and attitudes were reported, all favoring the older mothers. However, several younger mothers showed excellent performance, suggesting the…

Reviews research examining the effects of self-care skills training programs on latchkey children's knowledge, behavior, and emotional well-being. Suggests ways in which the findings can be used to improve the quality of self-care instruction and presents directions for future research. (Author/TE)

Examines professional response to child sexual abuse. Considers problems with current practice and research, what maintains current professional behavior, and whether individual professionals improve children's welfare. Documents numerous professional practices that may harm children. Highlights ways that individual professionals can promote…

In responding to commentaries by Ceci and Bruck, Pezdek, and Faulconer, authors of original article (all this issue) on child sexual abuse restate original argument that children's well-being should determine all professional action, no matter how painful this may be for professional. Authors then address specific issues raised in commentaries,…

Because of changes in legislation and policies regarding child welfare, increasing numbers of older children are being placed for adoption. Many of these children are defined as having "special needs" and include children who are at risk for physical, emotional, or behavioral problems. We use Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory as a…