The majority of men and women prison inmates are parents. Many lived with children prior to incarceration, and most have at least some contact with their children and families while serving their sentences. Because prison populations have increased in the United States, there has been a renewed interest in finding ways not only to reduce…

Smiles can do so much for an individual, regardless if a person is the giver or the receiver. When someone smiles at a person, they perceptibly see or feel something they like about that person, and that makes him or her feel special. The person smiling obviously has some joy they wish to share, and it is apparent in their smile. Little Brady…

The "Colorado Children's Budget 2012" examines the state's commitment to investing in the well-being of children. It tallies up Colorado's actual and planned investment during the past five years (Fiscal Year (FY) 2008-2009 through FY 2012-2013) on programs and services in four areas: Early Childhood Learning and Development, K-12…

Teen pregnancy in the United States has declined significantly in the last two decades. Despite these declines, rates of teen birth, HIV, and STIs in the United States remain among the highest of any industrialized nation. Socio-economic, cultural and structural factors such as poverty, limited access to health care, racism and unemployment…

The Family Backpack Project provided 249 low-income, prekindergarten children and their families with opportunities to read and listen to audio recordings of 3 sets of books in their homes. Families received English or dual-language texts (English plus Spanish, Arabic, Kurdish, or Somali) matched to their home languages. Children and their…

Decades of research have provided strong evidence of what an integrated early childhood system should look like. Several groups, including the Alliance for Early Success, have outlined research-backed state and local policies that can move systems closer to meeting this goal. In fact, many states and communities across the country have already put…

Many family members are adversely affected by their loved ones drinking or drug problem. The aim of the present study was to explore changes in coping and enabling behaviors among family members who attended a community educational and psychosocial group for friends and family of a substance abuser, and to examine the concerns of these family…

In this resource sheet, Dr Higgins examines child abuse and neglect in Indigenous communities from a societal perspective: applying a community development framework to understand effective strategies for reducing risks and enhancing children's safety and wellbeing. To be effective, strategies to address the problem of child abuse in Indigenous…

This dissertation explores the long-term influence of the SPARK Program (Shore People Advancing Readiness for Knowledge) on the environmental attitudes of some of its alumni. SPARK was designed for parents and their preschool children who live in a rural area on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The main goal of this program is to provide…

As part of a comprehensive system of support for families with young children, home visiting programs help to ensure that families facing obstacles--such as those caused by stress, language barriers, geographic and social isolation, and poverty--receive the support they need to nurture their child's healthy development. Efforts to support home…

The Home Visiting Coalition represents more than 75 organizations working together to articulate the effectiveness of home visiting to a range of policymakers and stakeholders in the early childhood field. Despite varying program goals and service delivery strategies, the Coalition participants share a commitment to expanding access to…

The prevalence of traumatic stress in the lives of families who are homeless is extraordinarily high. Often these families are headed by single mothers who have experienced ongoing trauma in the form of childhood abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and community violence, as well as the trauma associated with poverty and the loss of home,…

The objective of this study was to evaluate how parent-infant music classes would benefit young mothers frequenting a support group for young mothers at a community centre in comparison to a group of older mothers. When the courses had terminated the mothers were interviewed in their homes and their singing confidence was assessed, as well as…

The guidelines and supporting rationale presented in this paper were developed from the October 2007 "Best Practices for Mental Health in Child Welfare Consensus Conference" sponsored by Casey Family Programs, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the REACH Institute (REsource for Advancing Children's Health). The purpose of the conference was to…

The author describes the aptly-named "Better Beginnings" early childhood literacy project. Conducted by the State Library of Western Australia, sponsored by the WA State Government and Rio Tinto Limited, and closely monitored by Edith Cowan University, "Better Beginnings" has been successful from the outset, with proven…