Rising maternal employment, welfare reform, and increased preschool enrollment contribute to accelerating family demand for child care in California, and federal and state governments have responded by doubling support for child care and preschool programs between 1996 and 1999. However, there is little information available on how child care…

As child care becomes an increasingly important public policy issue on the national level, there is emerging concern about Georgia's readiness to meet the needs of its children in care. This study documented the state of child care in Georgia in comparison to other states, to national averages, and to national standards. A group of 12 comparison…

This report discusses home visiting, identifies six key elements common to programs for infants and toddlers that make effective use of home visiting strategies, and profiles successful home visiting programs. It begins by discussing home visiting services and outcomes of home visiting programs. The six key elements of effective home visiting are…

Noting that Minnesota has developed many innovative services for parents and infants, but does not yet have an organized way to attend to infants' emotional development and mental health needs, this report details a study to ascertain the need for infant mental health services and examined the current level and types of services available. Data…

This Digest summarizes what is known about the successful transition of children with disabilities from infant/toddler services to preschool education. The ideal transition process is defined and characteristics of an ideal process such as meeting individual needs and providing uninterrupted services are listed. Also noted are issues in the…

This White Paper on child care is the second of four to be published by the Action Alliance for Virginia's Children, and focuses on the affordability and availability of quality child care in Virginia. The paper states that despite federal attempts to simplify funding, funding remains complicated due to differences in the federal and state fiscal…

The Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development reviewed an extensive, multi-disciplinary, and complex body of research covering the period from before birth to entry into Kindergarten to generate an integrated science of early childhood development and the role of early experiences. The result of the committee's review,…

Student health professionals, working as assistants to communities with serious health care problems, helped develop the Shuqualak health center in an area with the highest infant mortality rate in the United States. Describes the Community Technical Assistance Program and the history of the Shuqualak project. (SB)

Reviews the major substantive amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act being proposed by the U.S. Senate, including changes in state and local educational agency eligibility; least restrictive environment; private school placement; evaluations, reevaluations, and Individualized Education Programs; discipline procedures;…

A study of 161 substance-abusing mothers assessed 10 maternal risk factors: maternal depression; domestic violence; nondomestic violence; family size; incarceration; no significant other at home; negative life events; psychiatric problems; homelessness; and drug use severity. Parenting stress and child abuse potential was higher for women with…

Describes a continuing medical education program designed to provide physicians with the information and skills necessary for early intervention. The model provides competency-based training through an introductory seminar and a program of independent study in the areas of child-find, assessment, Individualized Family Service Plan development, and…

Analyzes the early communication structure in adult-child interactions with two- to six-month old babies in Western (West Germany, Greece) and non-Western (Yanomami, Trobriand) societies. Discusses universal international verbal and non-verbal structures reflecting intuitive parenting programs. (FMW)

Surveys of parent-infant programing at 81 schools for deaf children in 1982 and then in 1990 reflected increased parent-infant programing and a doubling of enrollment, especially in numbers of students receiving part-time instruction and home instruction. Additional data on student characteristics, program funding, and respondent concerns are…

Permanency planning for infants with prenatal substance exposure is challenging due to characteristics of the infants and the ongoing substance use or relapse of the parents. Visitation is a primary mechanism through which child welfare workers determine and support permanency planning. Productive use of visitation for permanency planning for…

New knowledge of the perceptual, discriminative, and memory capabilities of very young infants has opened the door to further evaluation of these abilities in infants who have risk factors for cognitive impairments. A neurophysiologic technique that has been very useful in this regard is the recording of event-related potentials (ERPs). The…