Five individual-level independent variables--life stage (age), social status, health, informal social support, and stress--were measured to assess the dependent variable, use of social services. Only the existence of informal social support proved significant, indicating a need for informal networks and educational programs, as well as for…

Located along the U.S. Mexico border, colonias are unincorporated areas with no building codes, city taxes, or infrastructure. Most colonia residents live in poverty. Involving rural colonia residents from Hildago County, Texas, in a concerted effort to solve their problems became a central focus for a task force of educational and social…

This booklet on money management and financial resources is targeted to parents of a child under the age of 18 who has a disability. The guide outlines step-by-step financial management techniques and provides information on resources. Chapter 1 focuses on the need for parents to organize financial information. Parents are urged to keep their…

This paper describes the theories and social factors that contributed to the development of competency-based training (CBT). These include behaviorism (Edward L. Thorndike), scientific management (Frederick Taylor), progressive education (John Dewey), and derivative theories including operant conditioning (B.F. Skinner), objectives-based…

This report, framed by the region's foremost experts on poverty, is the first comprehensive and scientifically rigorous analysis of the implications of welfare reform for the people and communities of Los Angeles (California). Direct and indirect impacts are considered. It is concluded that the number of welfare recipients in Los Angeles likely to…

Solution parenting is designed to provide both foster parents and caseworkers a new kind of parenting for difficult children and youth in placement. The specialized training program is for those who will teach solution parenting. Objectives for trainees include: (1) identify small, positive behavioral changes; (2) recognize and use pre-existing…

This manual for child welfare staff and foster/adoptive parents is intended to provide guidelines for serving abused and neglected children who are in family foster care and adoption. The first section is on substitute care and permanency planning and offers an historical perspective on substitute care and definitions of family foster care and…

Addressing the complexities of families facing substance abuse can help caseworkers in assessment and treatment-planning activities. Some basic information and skills that caseworkers and foster care parents can use in the assessment of addiction and treatment-planning decisions are presented in this training manual. The manual and training…

A study examined community, workplace, and social issues faced by professionals in education, health, human services, and law enforcement in eight rural British Columbia (Canada) communities. Surveys and interviews with 36 professionals revealed a dissonance between views of rural issues in the literature and views of local practitioners. The…

This report describes capacity and needs assessments of youth services in the District of Columbia. The assessments were conducted by the Urban Institute, Georgetown University, and the University of the District of Columbia in the summer of 1999. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams requested these assessments to help guide the allocation of additional…

This book examines the adoption process in Great Britain, recounting first-hand experiences to take the reader through each stage of the process from the adopter's point of view. The book also examines the success and failure of several types of adoption. The chapters are: (1) "You Want to Adopt"; (2) "First Meetings, First Months,…

Quantifies the degree of social, economic, and cultural deprivation of countries with high degrees of illiteracy by comparing their social indicators to those of countries having a predominantly literate population. Examined are indicators of education, the mass media, transportation, social welfare, agriculture, and the economy. (Author/AM)

Since the family physician coordinates and follows family referrals to the social services, the University of Nevada School of Medicine's curriculum for the community health course emphasizes community resources. The course's case method selected for the class session on community agencies is described. (MLW)

Presents a summary of issues, problems, court litigation proceedings, accomplishments, and other events relating to racial, ethnic, and sex discrimination, school desegregation, equal education, and services for the disadvantaged in the United States as a whole and in individual States, as described in various reports from January to April, 1982.…

Describes a play-therapy group for sexually abused children in a rural California area. The focus of the group therapy was to restore the children's self-esteem. Services were part of an overall treatment program for families. (Author/DB)