Culture and systemic change are paramount to achieving significant and long-lasting gains in child and youth wellbeing and, in time, securing the future of our nation. This brief, based on a high-level synthesis of eight years of experience and research in place-based family strengthening, makes the case for a national transformation to a society…

This monograph discusses how to bring about changes and reforms in the area of human services. The introduction defines human services and briefly discusses some reform movements and whether or not viable change methods are available. Section I discusses the roles of various change participants including the change agent, lobbyist, ombudsman,…

To effectively promote change in organizations and communities, specific strategies or action guidelines and some tactical steps for effectively carrying out these strategies are offered for people who work in human service agencies. The book is useful to both practitioners in the field and upper-division graduate students. The action guidelines,…

This book explores relationships among democracy, social capital, and community-based mediating structures, focusing on Appalachia because of the obvious failures of market capitalism there. It suggests that mediating structures protect communities from the savage side of market capitalism and promote the democratic prospect by increasing and…

This Canadian annotated bibliography provides 41 items on community planning, community action, community services, and participation, followed by eight related publications on aspects of communities and of social change. Manpower development, human services, dimensions of poverty, and strategies for change are emphasized. Also included are a…

This paper analyzes principles of knowledge diffusion and provides a framework for applying new ideas or innovations, particularly in relation to rural community development. As new knowledge is created or old knowledge is found to have new applications, the art of spreading knowledge and managing innovation has become more crucial in both urban…

Draws on evidence concerning rural population, families, schools, churches, and communities to conclude that the conceptualization of rural as "different from urban" has no contemporary empirical support and that differences among rural areas are greater than rural-urban differences. Offers suggestions for refocusing social work practice on the…

This compedium volume summarizes a study on the characteristics and underlying assumptions of education beyond schools. The three chapters in Part I present a method for analyzing and comparing 10 distinct approaches to out-of-school education and demonstrate the important kinds of generalizations this method can generate. Chapter 1 is an…