If implemented, California's Proposition 187 (the "Save Our State" initiative) would create a state-run system to verify the legal status of all persons seeking public education, health care, and public benefits. The frustrations resulting from Proposition 187 and its implications for immigrants are explored. (SLD)

The United States has about 225,000 to 500,000 homeless children. In 1987, Congress passed a comprehensive law to provide emergency and long-term assistance for homeless persons. Under the Stewart B. McKinney Act, states receive funding to investigate homeless children's needs, identify education obstacles, and develop plans to overcome them. Tips…

Research strategies, including types of evaluations, designs, and indicators, developed to assess programs for chronic alcoholics and mentally ill homeless people in Canada are reviewed. Findings from previous evaluations are summarized, and the implications for evaluation practice are considered. (SLD)

A professional with hearing impairments recounts his experiences with educational and rehabilitative services and addresses topics raised in this special focus issue. These include the value of interdisciplinary approaches to rehabilitation, the importance of self-help, implementation of professional standards and legislative mandates, student…

Reviews the Sullivan versus Zebley decision concerning eligibility for Supplemental Security Income benefits based on childhood disability and the Social Security Administration's response to the decision. Presents new regulations for determining childhood disability and discusses implications for child advocates, service providers, and social…

Analysis of early intervention expenditure data for 157 children in Massachusetts revealed an enormous variability in the total expenditure per child estimate. The study identified specific child, family, and program characteristics as predictors of different types of service hours. Difficulty in using one mean expenditure figure for planning is…

Outlines need for sociomedical services for elderly in developing countries in transitional stage of urbanization, changes in structure and role of families, and inadequate resources for establishing community-based elderly care programs. Focuses on analysis of human resource needs for training of health workers. Proposes integrated approach for…

At a time of reduced social services funding, some children receive redundant services and others receive none. Fragmentation prevents social service professionals from seeing the cumulative impact of their interventions. Integrated children's services could be enhanced by school restructuring that provided more personal relationships between…

Offers detailed guidelines that could be used as standard operating procedures for the merger of voluntary social service agencies. Discusses a survey of 32 agencies that merged during the years 1973 to 1986. Issues related to the roles of organization, staff, and service delivery in such mergers receive particular attention. (Author/BB)

AIDS infection rates among native Hawaiians are increasing. Discusses the ramifications of AIDS in the native Hawaiian community by examining the knowledge and lifestyle practices of 26 native Hawaiians in Hawaii. Identifies recommendations for the development of culturally responsive social services. (KS)

Discusses how human services agencies can use strategies and information technologies similar to those used in political campaigns to identify needs and attitudes for social services campaigns. Marketing for social services programs is described, and the use of computers for a political campaign and for a teenage pregnancy program is compared.…

Interviews with 14 middle-class women aged 59-85 uncovered contradictions between their need for support and security and desire to be independent and self-sufficient. Low expectations of public services and a sense of marginality in their families exacerbated the conflict. Ways to help elderly women shape supportive environments were proposed.…

Uses data from three studies of work norm development to explore a framework for assessing prospects for successful interagency collaboration among schools and other social service agencies. Social service failures are systemic, springing from inappropriate use of work-role specialization and bureaucratic organization. Overcoming the resulting…

Two Commission of European Communities surveys of people over age 15 and of those over 60 demonstrated a widespread belief that older people deserve public support and services and face employment discrimination. Socioeconomic factors influenced older people's sense of security and life satisfaction. Positive intergenerational attitudes appeared.…

Argues that home visiting and related services have been shaped and constrained by the tendency to use services as a substitute for adequate income and economic opportunity, by ambivalent attitudes toward poor people, and by a preoccupation with the effects of poverty on child rearing. Proposes basic principles of practice that should guide early…