Advantages and disadvantages to various methods of assuring quality and accountability in community mental health centers are discussed. Examples are external structure review, peer monitoring, and site visitation. (LAB)

Reviews have identified mental health interventions that are relevant to schools; unfortunately, this research pays insufficient attention to the school context. Several aspects of school context likely influence the ability of schools to change current practices or adopt new ones. Relying on an organizational framework, a three-level model of…

This paper summarizes results of telephone interviews with key personnel at 19 (out of 22) agencies receiving grants under the Center for Mental Health Services program, one part of a 5-year evaluation study examining the impact that utilizing measurable outcomes has on service systems. This component focused on the conceptualization and…

In addition to reporting on the technology of needs assessment and evaluation, these guidelines examine the context in which certain technologies should be employed, the opportunities/limitations of different methodologies, and the rationale for assessing needs and evaluating. The guidelines, intended for personnel at various levels and different…

This study, which collected data through interviews and document review, was designed to identify strengths and weaknesses of Minnesota's Comprehensive Children's Mental Health Act (CCMHA) of 1989 and its implementation through December 1990. Three criteria for mental health reform were established for the study, including: care should be…

Analyzes why the current complex of social institutions and systems does not effectively serve poor children, highlighting the lack of early or preventative help for families and inappropriate organizational structure. Offers a series of five principles for a new foundation based on prevention, comprehensiveness, continuity, and accountability.…

Major contents of this report are the four major presentations made at a workshop designed to give 200 nursing service chiefs a uniform approach for upgrading and expanding skills and knowledge relevant to achieving the mission of the Veterans Administration (VA) Nursing Service. "Facing the Future" focuses on the VA Nursing Service as…

This proceedings document includes papers presented at a conference on children's mental health, systems of care, and research. Papers are grouped into 11 chapters which address the following topics: (1) program and system evaluations (nine papers); (2) managed care in children's mental health (six papers); (3) accountability and information…

The purpose of this report is to provide the Center for Excellence (CfE) in Early Childhood Development with a set of recommendations regarding how to measure school readiness in Ventura County. This report defines school readiness according to the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) which identified the following three important components of…

The UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities (CHCFC) has developed the School Readiness Critical Pathways (SRCPs) as an evidence-based conceptual model that links related outcomes and strategies. This helps to organize an array of broad and diffuse evidence regarding the strategies that produce school readiness outcomes for…

The federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau has launched a five-year initiative that will support state efforts to build comprehensive early childhood service systems. This initiative--the State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Initiative (SECCS)--provides two year planning grants followed by three year implementation grants to the 50 state…

This report outlines the national and state environmental context for the SECCS Initiative in supporting MCH strategic planning in early childhood systems building. This strategic context has implications for roles, relationships, and activities within a planning process and ultimately an implementation process. It summarizes the opportunities and…

This report is designed to support the planning and implementation of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (SECCS) Initiative. It addresses a set of principles that these agencies can use to advance their planning process, reach out to new partners, develop collaborative strategies, and build a…

In 2003, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) released a "Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Health." In recognition of the critical role states play in the development of early childhood initiatives and of the unique contributions that state Title V programs can make to these initiatives, the Bureau operationalized their…