A survey was conducted with 294 community residential facilities serving adults with severe retardation. Compared to nonhandicapped community members, the residents were perceived to have more involvement in only 4 of 38 community activities, including employment or day activities, using health care services, walking/wheelchair strolling, and…

Describes the activities of two Head Start programs, Murray Head Start in Murray, Kentucky, and Inn-Circle in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Both programs integrate families into wider communities, and bring community resources into their programs to better serve parents and children. Both programs illustrate how Head Start can become a community hub for…

This commentary on Erb's (1995) article on institutionalization of individuals with severe impairments identifies several points of disagreement, including the appropriateness of placement of such individuals in large institutions, the financial cost of community supportive living, and whether individual needs can best be served in institutions or…

This commentary on Erb's (1995) article on institutionalization argues that living in one's home community is better than being forced to leave it to obtain needed services. The commentary also criticizes the assertion that supported living programs funded through Medicaid waiver are not cost-effective compared to traditional institutional or…

Robert Erb responds to commentaries to his paper on institutional placement for individuals with severe disabilities and the costs of community and institutional placements. Risk-and-benefit issues, in addition to cost-and-benefit ones, are addressed. (SW)

Examines a youth service bureau over a 20-year period, with a total client population of some 47,000 during this period. Findings indicate that this agency maintained its emphasis on diversion of juveniles from the traditional juvenile justice system not because of funding agency pressure, but because diversion is sound policy. (LKS)

This article describes the design and implementation, within a culturally sensitive context, of a multiservice, community-based counseling intervention aimed at promoting personal and career development of urban, African American youth. Components of this program can be adapted in planning future developmental interventions with this particular…

Describes a program for new immigrants from the former Soviet Union run by the Jewish Child Care Association of New York. It is designed to buffer some of the stressors confronting the new immigrants, act as a bridge between cultures, and facilitate employment or vocational training of immigrant parents. (MDM)

How to expand to a larger scale a working community-service program using federal money is considered. Planning time is an essential, as are a focus on program culture and technical support. Adapting programs, rather than prescribing solutions, should help in the cautious move toward a national program. (SLD)

A major problem with the proposed approaches to national service is that they may draw attention away from the real causes of and the feasible solutions to critical problems. Community action should involve young people in sustained, long-term empowering activities, not in one-time experiences or in work that does not challenge current power…

A survey examined knowledge about fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and about the effects of prenatal maternal drinking on the fetus among 76 American Indians in Los Angeles, including undergraduate and graduate students and participants in a residential alcohol treatment program. Also reviews the literature on FAS symptoms, outcomes, and incidence,…

Examines the characteristics of recycling behavior for aid in strategy development to stimulate participation in community recycling programs. Suggests strategies that focus on the specific needs and problems of participating households, accommodate community variations, use appropriate information channels, and consider the relevance of operation…

This response to a description of a psychotropic drug review process, TAPER, suggests that the data supporting the reported low rate and dosage level of psychotropic drug use resulting from the process were misleading and inaccurate. Implications of such a drug review process for facilities serving people with developmental disabilities are drawn.…

Schools and community agencies are working together to find new ways to meet the needs of students and their families. Given the increasing complexity of children's and adolescents' lives, collaboration to address their needs makes sense. Key elements of successful school-community agency collaborations are goals; roles; balance; equality; trust;…

Community programs developed as part of the Healthy Children Program demonstrate that cost-effective models for accessible health care exist. A communications strategy to disseminate knowledge about improving health care is recommended. (SLD)