Health care reaches more children under age three in the United States than any other family-facing system and represents the most common entry point for developmental assessment of and services for children. In this article, Adam Schickedanz and Neal Halfon examine how well the child health care system promotes healthy child development early in…

Purpose: This study discusses the process of co-constructing a prototype pedagogical model for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds. Participants and settings: This six-month activist research project was conducted in a soccer program in a socially vulnerable area of Brazil in 2013. The study included 17 youths, 4 coaches, a…

Developmental screening of young children is important in all populations, especially underserved communities with known health care disparities. The American Academy of Pediatrics created guidelines and a toolkit for pediatricians to conduct developmental surveillance and screening, yet these guidelines are not uniformly implemented within…

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…

Relatively little attention has been paid to the dimension of time in the design of social work interventions. Critical time intervention (CTI), an empirically supported psychosocial intervention intended to reduce the risk of homelessness by enhancing continuity of support for individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) during the transition…

Outlines models for health education and community interventions targeted at reducing human immunodeficiency virus-Type 1 transmission. Notes significant gains made with regard to sexual practices among homosexual and bisexual men in some acquired immunodeficiency syndrome epicenters. Stresses need for more programs to address other high-risk…

In order to assist states in developing model programs, this report examines the common characteristics and strengths of a number of state programs that coordinate social services for at-risk students and their families. After discussing the characteristics of at-risk children and their families, the report presents a comprehensive and…

The effects of alcohol and other drug abuse are recognized as a serious problem in U.S. communities. Policy efforts and increased law enforcement have only a minimal impact if prevention strategies are not consistent with the community's level of readiness, are not culturally relevant, and are not community-specific. A model has been developed for…

This report describes a service model developed for the Division of Children and Family Services in Wenatchee, Washington that attempts to address the needs of families impacted by substance abuse. The service area is rural and has an overwhelming drug problem. Caseload trends provide evidence for a large number of drug-related referrals and an…

This document comprises the second volume of a two-volume resource guide to help states and localities take advantage of new Federal initiatives to increase services to youth under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). This volume comprises the discussion papers that formed the basis for the options summarized in the first volume. The papers…

Reaffirming its leadership role toward better oral health for all Americans, the ADA has produced a white paper that also challenges policy-makers and the US to improve access to dental services. The white paper, "State and Community Models for Improving Access to Dental Care for the Underserved," was presented October 1 to the House of…

The paper describes application of an interactive model to providing services for young children with special needs being mainstreamed in community day care programs. In this model, the resource consultant coordinates service delivery in interactions with: (1) the child and family; (2) early childhood educators; and (3) resource specialists. The…

The Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) was an ambitious effort launched in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1996 to provide high-quality early care and education services to at-risk children, on a county-wide scale and under the direction of local neighborhood agencies. Four years after its launch, ECI was providing substantial social and educational…

Examines intervention models addressing the welfare of abused and neglected children and those affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Notes larger, government-sponsored interventions and innovative local programs working with at-risk children, including the National Strategy on Child Abuse and Neglect, the Gauteng Programme of Action for Children,…

This paper describes first-year activities of the Prime Time Project, a community-based intervention with adolescents who have a history of both severe emotional disturbance and involvement in the juvenile justice system because of repeated or violent offenses. The intervention aims to decrease criminal behavior, increase prosocial behavior, and…