This collection of papers presented at a 1996 conference on children's mental health focuses on utilization research. Papers have the following titles and authors: (1) "Information Equity: A Critical Component of Strong Service Systems" (Catherine Batsche and Allison Metcalf); (2) "Utilization of Children's Mental Health Services: Differentiating…

This report describes a national survey of organizations of and for parents of children and adolescents with serious emotional disabilities. The telephone survey located 207 parent organizations of which 26.7 percent were publicly affiliated and 72.9 percent were either private, non-profit, or informally organized. About 54 percent were part of…

This paper examines past and present issues in special education and offers proposals toward the goal of providing special assistance to every student who needs it. Examples of past errors include the categorical assumption that disabling conditions can be defined precisely and followed with appropriate services, and the assumption that there is a…

A retrospective review examined characteristics of 13 families involved in a community-based assessment and treatment program for children and youth with behavioral and emotional disturbance in association with mental retardation. Principles of stress theory and family systems theory are examined and applied to the particular stressors in families…

Six papers address issues in the transition of students with disabilities into the adult world of work. The first paper by Richard Ashcroft and titled "Attachment and Transition for Troubled Youth," reviews the literature on attachment, transition, social skills, and troubled youth and school, and offers a transition strategy which…

This annotated bibliography was developed as a part of the Minority Cultural Initiative Project to help explore the issue of culturally competent service delivery to children and youth with emotional disabilities and their families. The review was limited to contemporary perspectives spanning the last three decades and covering communities or…

This evaluation report describes a project that used an innovative approach called precision teaching to train personnel who provide services to identified emotionally disturbed, mentally retarded, and cross-categorical children. Precision teaching is a data-based behavioral instructional program which encompasses pinpointing target behaviors,…

A drug and alcohol survey was administered to 283 secondary school students in a large suburban school district in the eastern United States. The survey covered demographic information, life events, coping strategies, and prevalence of substance abuse, asking students about initial and current use of a wide range of substances including alcohol,…

This review of the literature, litigation, and legislation summarizes special education classification patterns for children with disabilities in the rural Southeast. Focus is particularly on those socially constructed and culture bound disabilities (such as specific learning disabilities (SLD), educable mental retardation (EMR), and mild…

This volume of the National Longitudinal Transition Study of Special Education Students (NLTS) offers statistical data relating to 779 students (ages 13-21) with emotional disturbances. The study design involved a survey of parents/guardians, examination of school records, and a survey of school programs. The 43 tables describe: youths' individual…

The evaluation report describes the Student Training at Retail Stores (STARS) Project in New York City. The program's mission was to develop and implement a three-semester program of intense occupational, vocational, and career education to enhance job skills and secure retail sales jobs for high school juniors with mild learning, speech,…

This five-part manual is concerned with recreational activities for disabled persons. The first part defines four terms commonly used in reference to the disabled--impairment, disability, handicap, and inconvenience. Reasons for including the disabled in recreational activities and for developing activities for the disabled, discussed in the…

Authors and titles of the 15 papers in this volume are as follows: "A Follow-up Study of Vocational Education Graduates from the Ohio Central School System during Fiscal Year 1979" (Earl R. Schaeffer, Theodore P. Shannon); "Legal and Policy Dimensions of Functional Illiteracy among Post-Secondary Inmate Students" (Paul Moke, Jarrell Holloway);…

The ninth annual edition of the listing of American Camping Association camps provides information for parents on choosing a camp, brief descriptions of approximately 1,900 camps, and 5 indexes. A narrative section offers information on how to look for a camp, special needs campers, kinds of camps, accreditation, contacting a camp, budgeting,…

A federally funded research project investigated the relationship between academic learning time (ALT) and achievement of 43 educable mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, and learning-disabled students, aged 7-13, in grades 1-5. The project's final report, titled "An Analysis of the Impact of Instructional Time within Different Service…