This symposium overview briefly summarizes following articles which identify problems in the quality of care provided by Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded (ICF/MR), provide reactions, and identify positive trends. An emphasis on regulations and compliance is thought to be a major obstacle to quality services. (DB)

This paper contrasts the rhetoric of quality assurance with the realities of poor quality in today's Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded (ICF/MR). The ICF/MR operational model is described as paper oriented, failure based, and insensitive to the effects of its own practices. Recommendations include the establishment of local…

Notes that community mental health programs are an expanding force in the promotion of mental health and that this has implications for the roles of counselors who are becoming more involved in consultation, training and education of volunteers, and program planning and evaluation. Describes community group counseling health promotion program for…

Comprehensive assessment of personality traits of 110 direct service personnel employed in community residential units for the intellectually disabled was conducted. Overall, personnel exhibited nonaberrant profiles of personality traits, and there was a notable lack of psychopathology. Sensitivity was significantly elevated, seemingly a desirable…

As the life span in Japan lengthens, the gap in education between older and younger people widens. Courses offered to older adults are often short and include too many subjects. Successful courses, such as those offered in "kominkans" (citizens' public halls), help the elderly learn about modern society in relation to their personal…

Briscoe's article explains how PennServe, Pennsylvania's youth service program, converts young people from a problem to a community resource of which to be proud. Silcox explains various facets of a Philadelphia high school's PennServe program and shows how school-based service has changed attitudes, values, and relationships and enlivened…

A study compiled the reports of 12 Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services demonstration projects to examine services for individuals with severe disabilities and patterns of emphasis. Results showed a consistently greater emphasis on the program level and a lesser emphasis on other levels, particularly at the community level. The…

Shows how community education has been developed on the basis of four fundamentally different concepts of community, all of which have relevance to the challenges of indigenous education but are not adequate as a guide to practice. Traces these flaws to an overly simplistic model of community and proposes an extension that is compatible with a…

Explores the example of the indigenous Innu community in Labrador, Canada, in relation to past and present patterns of exploitation of land and stigmatization of language and culture by European colonizers. Examines how the Innu community has invested time and effort to wrest control of their lives from non-Innu. Describes how this process has…

Describes methods to increase the participation of Hispanic residents in community-needs-assessment activities based on experiences in Tampa (Florida). Includes suggestions for defining the population, estimating population size, selecting the sample, translating instruments, and administering the survey. (SLD)

Defines community service learning. Discusses its importance to business and higher education. Describes three community service learning projects involving three departments in the college business curriculum: (1) partnering among public schools, junior achievement, and management classes; (2) between nonprofit organizations and computer…

Scaling-up (the expansion or development of organizational activities of nongovernmental agencies to achieve greater impact) in community-based rehabilitation is described by using case study materials from industrialized and less-developed countries (India, Canada, and Indonesia) and focusing on differences in structural characteristics of…

Outlines a theoretical and conceptual framework for neighborhood-based collaboration by nonprofit organizations. Analyzes the main concepts of innovation in the design and implementation of a collaboration to prevent child maltreatment in an undervalued neighborhood and draws implications for social policy, social work practice, and social work…

Describes activities of various youth councils of the United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) network. The activities include developing projects in the areas of alcohol abuse education, community service, Native American heritage, and the environment. (HTH)

Describes the challenges and ultimate success of a partnership--the first of its kind--between San Jose State University and the city of San Jose to develop a joint library that was both innovative and economically sound. (EV)