Efforts to reform the welfare system in the United States have been gaining momentum since the late 1980s. Critics have been arguing that states should receive federal waivers to create their own programs to encourage welfare recipients to find work. The thrust of the 1996 welfare reform act transfers control over welfare spending to the states.…

The Opportunities Program is a collaboration between the Illinois state welfare program and the City Colleges of Chicago to educate/train welfare recipients in short-term programs. A review of the research identified these effective student retention strategies: student support, high quality instruction, and remediation. A review of research on…

This publication presents the substance of a conference on collaborative approaches to prevention and intervention for African American families exposed to community violence. Participants included child and maternal mental health professionals and others involved in public health, juvenile justice, child welfare, education, child advocacy, and…

Presented in this book are studies of social projects for economically disadvantaged inner-city youth engaged in neighborhood revitalizations in low-income communities around the country. Children and teens are highlighted as they participate in nonschool initiatives to achieve economic and political self-determination coupled with personal…

This book of teaching activities is designed to address the issue of hunger and develop a sense of activism and hope among students. It encourages students to discover some of the causes and misconceptions about world hunger. The book contains eight lessons with numerous activities to allow students to study hunger and develop a broader…

The relationship of familial and school-based risk factors to socioemotional and learning problems was assessed in a sample of 69 Hispanic 3-year-old children in Head Start Programs in New York City. In a preliminary study of maternal stress, child temperament was identified as a significant predictor of child socioemotional problems. School risk…

A study examined the underlying factor structure of the aptitude tests and work samples being completed by students with educational disadvantages (limited reading and mathematics skills) who were assessed with the current assessment model in the Akron (Ohio) Public Schools. The amount of variance accounted for by the factors was also…

The Multidisciplinary Academy of Clinical Education (MACE) believes that collaboration among children, teachers, parents, and clinicians is essential to prevent educational disabilities and handicaps. In this report, MACE offers suggestions regarding the general education of all children. A growing number of children are classified as having…

This report synthesizes first-phase evaluation results of the Teenage Parent Demonstration program. This program, whose cornerstone is case management, responded to three concerns: (1) rising welfare caseloads; (2) persistently high rates of teenage pregnancies and births; and (3) the high probability that teenage parents will go onto welfare and…

A program for preservice special education students at William Paterson College (New Jersey) offered participants field experience working with minority and disadvantaged students. Undergraduate students in their sophomore, junior, or senior classes spent one and two hours per week engaged in course assignments with pupils at the school under…

Through a traditional status-attainment approach, this paper examines the attainments of young women in adult life across the four domains of education, labor-force participation, financial resources and avoidance of poverty, and experience with welfare. These life attainments were explored for a cohort of 62 young women, ages 14 to 25 in 1968,…

Guidelines are offered for mental health professionals who work with economically disadvantaged children and adolescents from culturally diverse backgrounds. These guidelines describe useful theoretical constructs, suggest ways to sensitize assessments of minority children, and outline treatment strategies to obtain better clinical results. The…

Intended for teacher educators, educators working daily with at-risk students, and human services specialists, this book operates from the premises that: (1) at-risk children and adolescents deserve the attention of professionals; (2) at-risk conditions and behaviors can be identified and their effects assessed; (3) effective programs and…

This report summarizes the findings and recommendations of the Maryland State Governor's Commission on Black Males. It reflects the research, experience, and contentions of the Commissioners and the many people who testified at hearings throughout the state. The results are not exhaustive, but they mark a point from which progress and improvement…

The relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement of at-risk adolescent black males was studied for 42 students in grades 6, 7, and 8. The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) was used to provide global measures of self-esteem. School grades and scores from the Stanford Achievement Test battery were used to measure academic…