Six essays are presented that discuss the definition, methodologies, and contexts of program environment evaluation. Specific topics covered include the use of profiles and models, social-psychological classroom environments, program/organization congruence, program personnel, and measuring implementation of social treatment. (TJH)

Discusses the evolution of kindergarten and child care services in Quebec. Describes the state of preschool education and raises questions concerning the future of Quebec's preschool education. (RJC)

Describes Phoenix, a day treatment program that provides intensive educational, social, and mental health services to high-risk teens. The program emphasizes positive reinforcement, a mix of service providers, a delivery system based on team organization, and family intervention. (RJC)

Highlights some of the major challenges state policymakers in the fields of aging and developmental disabilities will face in the years ahead and pinpoints specific areas in which closer collaboration between the two fields might prove to be mutually beneficial. (ABL)

This issue consists of 1 study which describes staff and child responses to aggressive and withdrawn behavior in 79 children at 6 day nurseries. Children were appropriately occupied and staff provided a setting and materials that promoted play. Although there was positive social interaction between children, rates of aversive behavior were high.…

The next wave of educational reform proposals is targeting the persistent dropout rate and the declining level of adult literacy. Evidence of an intergenerational link between these two issues suggests the need for new models of education, holistic analysis of educational disadvantage, and family and community interventions. (SK)

Burnout stress syndrome is a complex concept reflecting a failure in both the individual's defense mechanism and in the work environment. Since child protection agencies cannot afford the costs of staff burnout, time and money spent by the organization to reduce employee stress is an investment in better service delivery. (TJQ)

Describes needs and characteristics of abused and neglected children; ideologies and interventions guiding the current human services system and contributing to second-generation child abuse; the linear thinking underlying these approaches; concepts of chaos theory that can provide a new framework for analyzing intervention issues; and…

Describes new services offered by the Community Action Agency of Franklin County, New York, after carefully listening to Head Start families. The agency now operates programs that successfully address problems Head Start families and other members of the community are having with housing, nutrition, domestic violence, and emergency assistance.…

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)

The current debate about the future of health care has obscured the impact of democratization on social service organizations. This article advances some preliminary notions about democratization of health care, in terms of financing services, community-based agencies, client-based intervention, citizen advocates, and cultural supports. (DR)

Summarizes a third-year evaluation of the Houston Independent School District's Beating the Odds (BTO) program, initiated in the 1988-89 school year. Designed for at-risk secondary students, BTO provides in-school counseling and guidance, community outreach and family case management, and specialized teacher training. The program helped curb the…

A particular ideology about science and objectivity has emerged in a climate of clear preferences concerning desirable and not-so-desirable populations, problems, and program strategies. Although the scientific process is believed to introduce objectivity, the picture that such quantitative methods provide in human services professions is…

Examines the nature and extent of interagency liaison in the context of two community nurseries providing integrated education, health, and social services in the Strathclyde region of Scotland. Concludes that effective liaison can significantly reduce the number of young children taken into residential care. (MDM)

Considers the role of social welfare and public assistance policies in the promotion of African American family life. Examines race, sex, and age demographics as predictors of poverty in the United States. Reviews the history of social programming and public family assistance, including intervention assumptions and demographic characteristics that…