In human services, clear definition of key concepts and strategies is critical to facilitating training, implementation, and research. This article reflects on methods undertaken to specify the wraparound process for children and families, and considers lessons that may be relevant to defining the system of care concept.

Smoking remains prevalent among US youth despite decades of antismoking efforts. Effects from exposure to prevention programs at national level may provide informative and compelling data supporting better planning and strategy for tobacco control. A national representative sample of youth 12-17 years of age from the National Survey on Drug Use…

Despite recognition of the central role that service accessibility (and availability) should assume within a system of care, the definition proposed in the feature article of this special issue does not identify specific factors that systems of care must take into account in order to serve diverse children with serious emotional disturbance and…

The catalytic potential of community-based organizations to promote health, prevent disease, and address racial, ethnic, and socio-economic disparities in local communities is well recognized. However, many CBOs, particularly, small- to medium-size organizations, lack the capacity to plan, implement, and evaluate their successes. Moreover, little…

Oversight is defined in a broad manner, encompassing a wide variety of mechanisms within the mental health field. Implications for mental health practice brought out by these descriptions of mechanisms are discussed to illustrate the utility of them in better understanding oversight practices. (Author/LMO)

Studied the needs and use of services by HIV-positive youth of the services provided by the Boston HIV Adolescent Provider and Peer Education Network for Services (HAPPENS) program. Results for 1,044 youth shows that HIV-positive young people are accessing coordinated care. Also highlights gender differences in services needed. (SLD)

Conducted a formative evaluation of an osteoporosis prevention health education program using several methods, including questionnaires completed by 256 women, and then compared formative evaluation results to those of a summative evaluation focusing on the same target group. Results show the usefulness of formative evaluation for strengthening…

An overview of the evaluation strategies being used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor and improve a broad national program of HIV prevention among youth in school is presented, emphasizing surveillance of risk behaviors, health outcomes, and school-related policies and programs. (SLD)

Describes the development and testing of a model to help schools assess their likelihood of successfully implementing health education innovations. Illustrates the model, developed using an integrative group-process technique that captures experts' qualitative and quantitative judgments as a subjective Bayesian probability model, with 100…

Procedures and benefits of a modular approach developed to evaluate the Texas Nutrition Education and Training Program are illustrated. It is shown that meta-analysis and similar summarizing methods create a comprehensive evaluation to improve operations and support planning and development. (SLD)

The seven articles of this special section explore evaluation in South Africa. Particular emphasis is placed on policy development in the areas of health, education, and housing and on efforts to alleviate the legacy of apartheid. Participative and quantitative efforts are described. (SLD)

Eleven articles are presented that focus on education about and prevention of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and on the evaluation of programs for AIDS prevention and education. Conceptual and methodological issues are considered, and suggestions are made for accomplishing the goals of AIDS education. (SLD)