Background: Caregivers in this qualitative study reported the multidimensional implications of having a child with autism on their family's lives and overall functioning. Method: The Effects of the Situation Questionnaire (Yatchmenoff, Koren, Friesen, Gordon, & Kinney, 1998) was used to gather qualitative data from 80 caregivers. Colaizzi's…

Recognizing that school nurse leaders are essential to the development of school nurses, the North Carolina School Nurse Leadership Institute was developed to enable school nurse leaders to update and advance their leadership skills. The Institute was a collaborative endeavor between the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services,…

The North Carolina State Legislature made outpatient commitment (OPC) criteria less restrictive than involuntary hospitalization criteria, provided an enforcement mechanism, gave facilities and staff immunity from liability, and allocated funds for OPC patients. Data collected in a state-wide study of civil commitment respondents in North Carolina…

Although the belief is strong in human service organizations that services should be coordinated to permit the resolution of the client's total problems, there is no consensus on what works best. To provide federal and state agency planners with information about research, trends, and issues in coordinating youth services at the state level, a…

Findings are presented from a site visit to a Raleigh, North Carolina, program that provides in-home support to children and adults with severe disabilities and their families. The program, the Wake County Community Alternatives Program for Persons with Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities, is administered by the North Carolina Department…

The directory describes services provided to migratory agricultural workers and their families, through the governmental and nongovernmental agencies interested in and responsible for their well-being. Agencies are grouped into: (1) United States government agencies, (2) North Carolina State government agencies, and (3) private organizations.…

A longitudinal assessment of interagency cooperation was conducted as part of a research project designed to monitor the implementation and development of the Smart Start collaboration process. Telephone interviews were conducted with key informants from organizations providing services to children, and the resulting qualitative, quantitative, and…

This report presents comprehensive documentation for the Mental Health Associate Training Project at Wayne Community College. The report is composed of twelve sections describing: (1) the changing nature, philosophy and scope of the human services as a system; (2) the characteristics of the college service area; (3) general information about Wayne…

The Planning Alliance for Community Empowerment, a public-private organization, was formed to address the need for coordinated, efficiently managed social services programs in rapidly growing Henderson County, North Carolina. For small rural towns and counties, planning organizations lead to greater availability of services and efficient…

In 1993, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted legislation to encourage schools to implement extended services to meet the needs of students, giving at-risk students first priority. In this manual, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction explains how extended services can be implemented at the school level. It identifies and…

Among 86 migrant farmworkers surveyed in northwest North Carolina (Avery, Aske, Alleghany, and Watauga counties), all were Hispanic, few spoke English, most had little education and job skills, and the majority were unfamiliar with community resources. A related survey revealed that community and business representatives understated migrant needs…

A responsibility of State, regional, and county leaders, planners, and policy makers is achieving the public's desires. However, to formulate plans and policies, several questions pertaining to community preferences and population distribution need analysis. Information on population distribution in North Carolina and the people's community…

This report summarizes recent research on collaboration and integrated service delivery for schools and communities in North Carolina. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction commissioned three research projects to determine the general state of affairs in service delivery for school-age children and their families and to identify ways…

This manual is a how-to-do-it guide to building coalitions of health and human service agencies, organizations, businesses, churches, and other community-based groups for collaborative research, planning, and action to improve resident health and quality of life. Most of the information provided was discovered and developed during the 4-year life…