This paper was prepared at the request of the CSWE Task Force on Social Work Practice and Education to examine the constraints influencing the relationship between agencies and educational institutions. (Editor/LBH)

This study used focus group discussions with formal kinship caregivers in Maryland to examine the need for support services. Findings revealed that kinship caregivers were committed to providing safety and stability for the children placed with them and suggested that caregiving can be a significant adjustment for many kinship caregivers. Findings…

A report on the process utilized by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) to develop standards for evaluating and approving professional preparation programs in physical education is given. CTC's efforts produced a list of standards, which is included, and a new comprehensive model for teacher preparation programs. (IAH)

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 article reviews the literature on conflict resolution skills and applies it to local interagency coordinating councils attempting to coordinate services to young children with special needs and their families. Six dimensions (climate, people, resources, agency, process, and policies) of the collaborative process are identified. (Author/DB)

Questions the value of accreditation as an effective force for improvement at large and/or prestigious institutions. Challenges institutions, accrediting agencies, and evaluators to emphasize the centrality of teaching and learning to all institutions in confirming quality. Offers suggestions for enhancing the value of the evaluation/accreditation…

This section includes three articles that discuss programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities, including a listing of state humanities councils; the Council on Library Resources; and the U.S. Department of Education Library Programs, including the Higher Education Act and the Library Services and Construction Act. (LRW)

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;…

The Public Health Service, under pressure to develop rules to prevent conflicts of interest in federally supported scientific research, is now considering regulation only in clinical trials of commercial products, a much narrower approach than last year's proposed regulation at all levels of research. (MSE)

Discusses the role of regional accreditation associations in assuring quality control in distance education for higher education and considers changes due to emerging new technologies. Highlights include standards for traditional regional accreditation, the process of regional accreditation, and accommodations for distance-education programming.…

Contains three articles discussing programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities, furnishing a list of state humanities councils; Institute of Museum and Library Services Library Programs; and U.S. Department of Education Discretionary Library Programs, fiscal year 1997, highlighting the Higher Education Act and the Library Research and…

A survey of 801 support services for adults with developmental disabilities living in community settings in Canada found a diminution of government's role in funding and guiding service provision and the emergence of private-for-profit services. Differences between nonprofit and private sectors include a greater propensity in nonprofit agencies to…

In a survey of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) complaint managers in 35 states, most respondents believed that neither educator nor parental awareness of the state complaint procedure had increased since its reinsertion into the 1992 IDEA regulations. A majority concluded that complaint procedures had reduced due-process…

Reviews proposals to reform the system by which public agencies receive and respond to reports of abuse and neglect, highlighting and describing one reform approach. The community-based partnership for child protection emphasizes targeting interventions by child protective services toward high-risk families while building collaborative community…

Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services (BRYCS), a public-private partnership between the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, provides national technical assistance to public child welfare. After a series of "community…