This report explores how service providers and educators can better understand, support, and work with Puerto Rican natural support systems through a variety of collaborative strategies. A first section presents a definition of Puerto Rican natural support systems and a discussion of how they are operationalized, and describes the following four…

Presents an overview of the literature concerning HIV/AIDS in Latino communities in the United States and Puerto Rico. Discusses the presence of botanical shops (where herbal medicines and other healing paraphernalia can be purchased) in Latino culture. Describes Projecto Cooperacion, a project that utilized botanical shops as a means of…

Provides school-based practitioners with an understanding and appreciation of how one Latino (Puerto Rican) community's natural support systems played an influential role in helping families and communities collaborate with schools. A set of guiding principles is presented along with a discussion of strategies and barriers to success. (SLD)

This study examined a sample of 24 Puerto Rican families from two kindergarten and first grade bilingual classes at the Blackstone School in the South End of Boston. The typical family in the sample was headed by a woman aged 32.9, with three preschool and elementary school age children. The typical mother arrived from Puerto Rico in 1974, and has…

Examines the caregiving arrangements of 214 disabled, elderly Puerto Ricans living in Springfield, Massachusetts. Results indicate that although these elderly were severely disabled, they had limited sources of informal care and rarely used formal services. Discusses the need for a structural adaptation approach and for social services that are…

Describes a federally funded substance abuse prevention project that focused on resilience development in Puerto Rican adolescents in a New England community. Cultural pride played an instrumental role in youths discovering their strengths while helping themselves and their families and community. Discusses goals, peer teaching, community service,…

Describes a community mental health program focused on the needs of Hispanic preschool children Worcester, Massachusetts. The program provides consultation and intervention services to the children's parents, day care teachers and family day care providers. (CM)

Examines the use of Puerto Rican natural support systems in collaborative ventures with schools and other systems. Presents results from 24 Puerto Rican families with children in a local elementary school. Discusses the implications for a developmental approach for school involvement with natural support systems in an urban environment. (GR)

School-based linkage to social services helps to coordinate scarce resources and encourage community participation. A longitudinal study of Puerto Rican families with children in bilingual classes is reported. Recommendations for developing and sustaining school-linked services to better reach Latino communities in urban areas are provided.…

Describes a community asset assessment used as a mechanism for reaching and engaging an undervalued community. Latino adolescents were placed in leadership roles as assessment interviewers in a Puerto Rican community. Discusses challenges and implications for involvement of Latino youths in school and human-services agency asset research. (LSR)

Reports findings from a two-and-a-half-year study of 24 Puerto Rican families in an urban elementary school so as to discover their natural support strengths. Results show that helping with homework was very important to these families. Suggests that school social workers are in an excellent position to serve as liaisons between school, family,…