Examines obstacles to research utilization in social policy development. Describes efforts of the Foundation for Child Development to link research and policy in such activities as supporting research for policy and practice, creating new services for children, child advocacy, and encouraging private and public sector collaboration in child…

Reviews the purposes of institutional accreditation; general institutional requirements for members of the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education; criteria for accreditation; and commission services. Lists institutions accredited by the North Central Association alphabetically and by state. Explains candidate for accreditation status. (DMM)

Argues for the use of decentralized decision-making and information systems as the best aids to intelligent decision-making when determining funding priorities for human services. (Author/RH)

Nongovernmental accreditation of institutions and programs, a uniquely American process, is discussed. Institutions are shown to bear a large responsibility for making accreditation work as a major tool for improvement. The accreditation process, specialized accreditation, and future developments are described. (Author/LB)

Describes an investigation of the proportions of Dona Ana County, New Mexico, social service agencies that have translated into Spanish the forms needed by consumers during the contracting phase of the social service cycle. Describes six categories of social service agencies. Includes recommendations for bilingual agency staff and forms. (SB)

Commitment to planning for permanency is essential if the way foster care agencies work with cases is to be changed and the discontinuities experienced by foster children are to be reduced. (RH)

The lack of utilization of evaluation studies is criticized. It is suggested that program directors be asked to submit proposals to evaluators which will demonstrate that the directors are competent to utilize the information provided and to assess the quality of the evaluation. (JKS)

Report of a survey which explored some of the services provided by the State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs) that may be useful to a company's program of equal opportunity employment and provides suggestions on how to use the State employment office with a minimum of difficulty. (TA)

A 3-year study of the impact of the 1972 flood in the Wilkes Barre, PA area on the elderly revealed that anticipated adverse long-term effects on elderly flood victims were not realized. Presented at the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of Gerontological Society, October 13-17, 1976, New York. (Author)

Article concludes that "...there is an audience in this country that is supportive of the arts...; new instruments have appeared at the national, state and community level, with which churches and individual church leaders and volunteers can work." (Author)

Reviews the role of accreditation in American higher education and shortcomings related to its inconsistency and lack of rigor. Discusses the 1996 creation of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) to oversee accreditation activities. Describes CHEA's organizational structure and analyzes its impact on accreditation and educational…

Research seeks to determine key elements in sustainability of projects to reorient an aspect of their service to an early intervention approach in mental health. Findings confirm literature on capacity building which suggests several crucial predictors of success in changing the ways agencies run. These include the development of interagency…

A study of 38 letters of finding examined the involvement of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in gifted education from 1992-95. Results indicate a majority of complaints handled by OCR involved minority access to gifted programs and an increase in the complaints involving gifted students with disabilities. (CR)

Reviews the efforts of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to reexamine the role of accrediting agencies in promoting institutional quality and institutional improvement. Summarizes the content of a series of sessions on the topic at the 1989 annual meeting of the association. (DMM)