The East Durham Children's Initiative (EDCI), a partnership among local government, nonprofit, faith, and school organizations, is focusing on the community's most promising resource--its children--in order to restore the city to the thriving African-American middle-class community it was throughout much of the mid-20th century. Since 2008, EDCI…

Family-centered, community-based programs are particularly suited to support families with at-risk children or maltreated children and achieve family preservation or reunification. In these child protection and child welfare cases, assessment is of great importance to inform decision making. But the implementation of services to support the…

Ten steps, generally following the scientific method, are identified and explained to assist the performance of a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) study. Benefit-cost analysis (BCA) is compared to CEA, and implications of using CEA are discussed. (Author/LMO)

Microville is a simulation-game device which has proven its usefulness as a functional instructional instrument in the field of adult education. This study of Microville is concerned with the effectiveness and efficiency with which such a device might instruct adult education to analyze the program concept and to make those decisions which would…

Evaluation research, if appropriately matched to a human service program's stage of development, can help inform the decision making at each step. The developmental stages of a program, questions to be answered at each stage, and kinds of research activities pertinent to such questions are discussed. (TJH)

It is vital to include youth in national-service plans. Basic approaches include putting young people on the team; putting youth on the national-corporation board; getting administrators into national-service; creating youth forums; and letting young people make decisions. (SLD)

Efforts of one school system in Alabama to respond to students' self-reports of participation in at-risk behaviors are examined. The Seniors Offering Support (SOS) program was designed to deal with these problems. The program aimed towards fostering student resiliency in an attempt to create healthy decision making. The program attempted to…

This section presents two pragmatic studies focusing on a real-life situation and specific applications in managerial decision making. One study deals with improving occupational safety in a bedding manufacturing plant, whereas the other concentrates on managing a state mental health program. (SLD)

A guide for community leaders, extension staff, and community or rural development practitioners outlines the evolution of a regional training model for community-based problem solving in rural areas experiencing economic decline. The paper discusses the model's underlying concepts and implementation process and includes descriptions of four…

This study examined the variety of service delivery models being used to provide services to infants and toddlers with disabilities in nine communities across three states (Colorado, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania). Information was derived primarily from focus groups and interviews conducted with community early intervention program…

This monograph focuses on adult education programs and (1) why needs assessment is necessary, (2) how to assess needs, (3) how to assess the needs of special groups, and (4) how to assess program needs. In the first of four sections the administrator's role is described, and the term "needs" is defined. Models are proposed for individual and…

This collection of papers examines instructional environments for students with severe disabilities. It points out that two principles should guide the selection of all instructional environments for all types of learners at all stages of instruction: the environment should be the least restrictive environment possible and it should be the most…