Current estimates indicate that over 6 million children live with at least one parent who is a substance abuser or is substance dependent. Children who are exposed to drug and alcohol abuse are at a greater risk of experiencing academic and behavior difficulties. Additionally, several studies have shown that students with emotional and behavioral…

How government spends money, and who benefits, reveals our priorities. How, then, do children fare in the competition for public resources? This report looks at public investments across age groups, from birth through the elementary years. Key findings show that spending more than doubles per capita between the infant and toddler years and the…

The Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) is a non-profit organization that funds and operates a neighborhood-based system of education and social services for the children of low-income families in a 100 block area in Harlem, New York. The HCZ has received remarkable media attention, including a best-selling book and a "60 Minutes" feature, and…

For some, community inclusion facilitates access to alcohol and drugs and, therefore, the potential for developing substance abuse disorders. However, little is known about substance abuse treatment use among people with intellectual disabilities. Using standardized performance measures, substance abuse treatment utilization was examined for…

Objectives: (1) To identify which United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) recommended child protection (CP) measures, such as policy, reporting systems, and services for child abuse and neglect (CAN) victims, individually or in combination, were most important in establishing a basic level of child protection in 42 countries;…

This article draws on data gathered in a two-year English government-funded follow-up study of secondary school children who were permanently excluded from school and who did not return to mainstream settings. It reflects on recent debates concerning different forms of social exclusion and considers what forms of service provision might prevent…

Confrontations between urban neighborhoods and activist organizations seeking affordable housing and shelter for the homeless are attracting the increased attention of academics and policy makers. Perceived as a problem to be resolved, and constituted as a "syndrome," the social phenomenon "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) is…

This qualitative study involved 20 youth (18 males, 1 female, 1 transgender, ages 19-24) living in Vancouver, British Columbia, who reported 259 critical incidents of what helped or hindered their experiences as they tried to get off the street. What helped included (a) taking responsibility, (b) engaging in constructive activities, (c) friends…

This study examined factors associated with the use of personal care services (PCS) and the amount of authorized hours in California in 2004-2005. Of those Medicaid-eligible individuals with developmental disabilities living at home, 31% received PCS. When we controlled for client need, gender, and age, individuals who were Asian/Pacific…

California's education system is not keeping up with the changing demands of the state's economy--soon, California will face a shortage of skilled workers. Projections to 2025 suggest that the economy will continue to need more and more highly educated workers, but that the state will not be able to meet that demand. If current trends persist,…

Family quality of life (FQOL) refers to the degree to which families of individuals with disabilities are able to meet their basic needs, enjoy time together, and pursue leisure interests and activities (Park et al., 2003). Researchers have identified barriers that families of individuals with disabilities encounter as they pursue a life of…

Enacted in 1997, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) represented the largest expansion of U.S. public health care coverage since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid 32 years earlier. Although the program has recently been reauthorized, there remains a considerable lack of thorough and well-designed evaluations of the program. In…

Objective: This article focuses on caseworkers' assessments of risk of maltreatment recurrence among families in contact with social services. Specifically, the article has two primary goals: (1) to examine the association between caseworkers' risk assessments and demographic, child, parent and family-level risk factors; and (2) to examine…

Throughout the Midwest and the southern United States, new groups of Hispanic/Latino and other immigrants are settling in large numbers. In many regions, very little infrastructure exists in social service, health care, and educational entities that would allow professionals to deliver much-needed services. Little data exist on the…

The "Annual Disability Statistics Compendium" is a publication of statistics on people with disabilities and government programs that serve the population with disabilities and is modeled after the Statistical Abstracts of the United States, published yearly by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The "Compendium" is designed to…