Adverse parenting practices, including child maltreatment, interfere with children's adjustment and life outcomes. In this article, Ronald Prinz describes the Triple P--Positive Parenting Program, designed to improve parenting population-wide. Prinz offers four main reasons to take a population approach. First, official records grossly…

What do we know about young children with delays and disabilities, and how can we help them succeed in prekindergarten through third grade? To begin with, Kathleen Hebbeler and Donna Spiker write, identifying children with delays and disabilities to receive specialized services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act poses several…

Technological innovation is transforming the prevalence and functional impact of child disability, the scale of social disparities in child disability, and perhaps the essential meaning of disability in an increasingly technology-dominated world. In this article, Paul Wise investigates several specific facets of this transformation. He begins by…

Researchers have identified four common co-occurring parental risk factors--substance abuse, mental illness, domestic violence, and child conduct problems--that lead to child maltreatment. The extent to which maltreatment prevention programs must directly address these risk factors to improve responsiveness to parenting programs or can directly…

Kimberly Howard and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn examine home visiting, an increasingly popular method for delivering services for families, as a strategy for preventing child abuse and neglect. They focus on early interventions because infants are at greater risk for child abuse and neglect than are older children. In their article, Howard and Brooks-Gunn…

Summarizes findings about the effects of domestic violence on children and reviews issues related to the identification and assessment of such children. Discusses the goals and models of service delivery, intervention approaches, and what is known about the effectiveness of these therapies. Addresses some challenges in working in this field. (SLD)

Analyzes the growing demand for out-of-school programs and activities for children with attention to program approaches, delivery systems, and problems. Provides recommendations for new public investments, community-level planning, and increased knowledge through research. (Contains 66 references.) (SLD)

Describes Hawaii's Healthy Start Program (HST), its ongoing evaluation study, and evaluation findings at the end of two of a planned three years of family-program participation and follow-up. HST uses home visitors to help prevent abusive and neglectful parenting. Found significant differences in program implementation among the three…

Using specific examples, describes key features of current comprehensive community initiatives to improve the lives of children and considers the limitations of efforts to evaluate them and factors contributing to their success or failure. Comprehensive community initiatives use multifaceted approaches to strengthen communities and improve the…

Kin caregivers can provide continuity and connectedness for children who cannot remain with their parents. This is one reason kinship care has become the preferred placement option for foster children. However, despite the growing reliance on kin caregivers, kinship care policies have evolved with little coherent guidance. This article examines…

The primary share of child care costs in the United States is paid by parents, followed by funding from the Federal government and matching state expenditures. Fragmentation in service delivery and inequities in allotment of subsidies should be countered through integrated policies and through the linking of child care and early education goals.…

Discusses the problem of drug-exposed infants from the perspective of a county attorney's office, focusing on a new Minnesota law that responds to the problem through early identification and provision of services. The approach calls for mandated reporting by medical providers and includes the possibility of civil commitment. (SLD)

Identifies the following basic issues involved in planning and implementing school-linked services: (1) planning; (2) targeting; (3) governance; (4) information systems; and (5) staffing. Effective planning requires a policy-minded team of equals from various agencies. Strategies that community teams can use to address each issue are discussed.…

Drug-exposed infants are having a profound impact on the child welfare system. When community resources are not available to meet the needs of these children and families, requirements of current child welfare laws cannot be met. The range of services necessary for effective child welfare responses is discussed. (SLD)

Over the past two decades, the foster care system experienced an unprecedented rise in the number of children in out-of-home care, significant changes in the policy framework guiding foster care practice, and ongoing organizational impediments that complicate efforts to serve the children in foster care. This article discusses the current status…