This study investigated families' experience of choice within a participant-directed Medicaid waiver program for young children with autism. Fourteen parents or grandparents participated in in-depth interviews about their experience of choosing personnel, directing in-home services, and managing the $25,000 annual allocation. Key findings…

Children from immigrant families make up a growing proportion of young children in the United States. This study highlights the heterogeneity in early academic skills related to parental region of origin. It also considers the contributions of early home and nonparental care settings to the diversity in early academic performance. Using nationally…

Firearms in the home are associated with increased injury risk, especially when loaded and unlocked. In this study, 5,010 fifth-graders and their caregivers in three U.S. metropolitan areas participated in the 2004-2006 Healthy Passages study on adolescent health. Firearm ownership and storage patterns were examined by four self-reported…

This seven-month ethnographic case study elucidated a kindergarten student's navigation through her first formal schooling experience with relation to expressive oral language. Gee's theory of Discourses and methodology of discourse analysis were used to examine expressive oral language in use. Two discursive contexts germane to…

There is an old adage that says it takes a village to raise a child. The key principles of the village concept may include influences and interactions of families, home environments, schools, and communities. The interconnectedness of these constituents may positively or negatively impact one another and the sustainment of the village, with all…

Child protection workers must determine under what conditions a child should be sustained within the family system. A standard that is often referred to is "good enough" parenting or minimal parenting competence. Research and clinical literature fails to offer workers guidance on the practical application of this terminology. Such…

This study examined parents' provision of "structure," defined as the organization of the environment to facilitate competence, and the degree to which it supports versus controls children's autonomy, in the domains of homework and studying, unsupervised time, and responsibilities in a diverse sample of sixth-grade children and their…

Microtransitions can be identified as those exchanges that occur during everyday life when family members negotiate a change in their interactions. This study aims to highlight how certain aspects of family functioning during microtransitions could influence the development of children's socio-emotional competence in their interactions with peers.…

The Forum, a collaboration of 22 Federal government agencies involved in research and activities related to children and families, was founded in 1994 and formally established in April 1997 under Executive Order No. 13045. The mission of the Forum is to foster coordination and collaboration and to enhance and improve consistency in the collection…

In response to increasing research and policy interest in the neighborhood context of early school success, this study examined relations among neighborhood social networks, home literacy practices/resources, and children's expressive vocabulary in a suburban at-risk sample in the USA at the beginning of the school year. In a Structural Equation…

The English and Chinese reading proficiency of 1376 Grade 4 students in 24 Hong Kong primary schools were assessed using measures developed for the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. Students' parents provided information about home reading activities (HRA) aimed at supporting their children's reading prior to them entering school…

This study investigated whether the amount and timing of group-based childcare between birth and 51 months were predictive of cognitive development at 51 months, taking into account other non-parental childcare, demographic characteristics, cognitive development at 18 months, sensitive parenting and a stimulating home environment. Children's…

In impoverished communities in Mexico, most adolescent mothers do not attend school; but typically, they become pregnant once they dropped out. Understanding the experiences of adolescents who have had a pregnancy and continue in school is complicated since few manage to do it. The goal of this study is to describe experiences within the family…

Individuals with disabilities display problem behaviors frequently. This case study presents an analysis of the extent to which one student's pattern of multiple problem behaviors and the potential efficacy of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC) as a model for linking families, schools, and special education settings to address educational…

Data from a sample (n = 145) of low-income Mexican-American mothers and their toddlers (9-26 months) were used to explore the prevalence of high-frequency book-sharing (?3 days/week) and its association with maternal immigrant status (Mexico-born vs US-born), as well as other demographic and psychosocial factors. Mexico-born mothers were more…