Evaluators often make key decisions about what content to include when designing new scales. However, without clear conceptual grounding, there is a risk these decisions may compromise the scale's validity. Techniques such as concept mapping are available to evaluators for the specification of conceptual frameworks, but have not been used as a…

The present study concerns the feasibility of the Families in Transition (FIT) program, a family-focused intervention for the prevention of problem behavior in early adolescents. To date, family-focused intervention has been under-used and insufficiently studied in Europe. The aims of the study are threefold-first, to test the feasibility of…

The purpose of this guide is to help families prepare for those times during which their child moves from one environment to another and from one developmental stage to another. The focus of the guide is on the role of assistive technology (AT) during those times--how to consider a child's evolving AT needs, how to identify and address the AT…

When entering the Blind Childrens Center (BCC), what a person might not realize is that four of the five visually impaired children in a classroom share the same diagnosis of Optic Nerve Hypoplasia (OHN). ONH is the leading cause of blindness and visual impairment in young children. It is important that these children participate in an inclusive…

The Durham Family Initiative (DFI) is one of two community-based child abuse prevention efforts that comprise The Duke Endowment's Child Abuse Prevention Initiative. Beginning in 2002, the Endowment provided support to the Durham Family Initiative (DFI) in North Carolina and Strong Communities in South Carolina to develop a comprehensive approach…

It has been estimated that approximately 20% of children experience some form of mental health problem, with 14% in the clinical range. Residential mental health treatment is often reserved for those with the most severe presentation of disorder, and intensive home-based alternatives have been developed to cope with increasing demand. The purpose…

The needs of all service users include those related to physical, emotional, sexual and mental health. This article documents where child health needs are recognised and being met within family support services in the west of Ireland, investigates whether there is variation across different types of family support services and presents the views…

Mothers with learning difficulties are often isolated within their local communities. They also report low levels of social support. Social disconnection is associated with high levels of stress and poorer mental health, and in turn, adverse parenting and child outcomes. In the study reported here, a multi-site, intervention group only, repeated…

Published annually since 1997, Newark Kids Count tracks key trends in child health and well-being in New Jersey's largest city with the latest statistics available. Newark Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: the state of children and families, family economic security, affordable…

The principles of family support are clear: building on the strengths, resources, culture, and capacity of families and communities is the best way to provide for the optimal development of children. This program self-assessment book gives family support programs specific, short-term and long-term benchmarks to help them enact the principles of…

This discussion addresses the disease-centered structures of services for disabled children and analyzes orientation toward institutional imperatives rather than toward including concerns of families. Five areas for change are addressed including promotion of independence, recognition of the value of long-term relationships with professionals, and…

Comments on a previous article written by two mothers concerning their experience of intercountry adoption. Advocates that people in helping professions identify areas in which support for adoptive families might be required. (Author/RH)

In the late 1980s, the Denver Art Museum initiated efforts to make the museum a destination for families. From 1997 to 2001, with a generous grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, these efforts came to fruition. From the moment they walk through the doors, families' needs are anticipated. For example, they can pick up a welcoming brochure, Free…

The theoretical, conceptual, operational, and performance foundations of an integrated framework for practicing early childhood intervention and family support are described. The framework is derived from theory, research, and practice in diverse fields of inquiry that collectively provide an organising scheme for engaging in practice that…

Recent work-family research has proposed that informal means of organizational work-family support (e.g., managerial support) are more useful than formal means of organizational work-family support (e.g., work-family benefit availability) in explaining variance in employee affective, intentional, and behavioral outcomes. However, the relative…