This handbook presents the essential components of a comprehensive family service system for low-income families. It shows, through the documentation and description of two low-income African American communities over 4 years of development work, the types of information that should be collected about community functioning so that informed…

This report outlines the Bridgeport Futures Initiative, a collaborative project undertaken in 1990 by health, education, and social service organizations in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to improve the lives and educational outcomes of children and youth. The report discusses the origins of the initiative, as well as the cross-systems co-location case…

This volume, part five of a six-part report, is a three-part guide that offers practical advice for recruiting, training, and managing staff for a family-support program; it includes discussions about typical problems and the ways practitioners have chosen to resolve them. Part 1 discusses how to determine the type of staff needed and how to hire…

Increasing numbers of children begin formal schooling without the requisite skills or abilities to succeed, most often due to deficiencies in language and emotional maturity. This study sought to identify potential precursors to later kindergarten difficulties that would suggest specific areas needing further study and support. Study participants…

This report presents an approach to welfare reform using the welfare-to-work programs possible under the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) portion of the Family Support Act. The document describes how state and local governments can design and implement two-generation interventions that combine services to help parents achieve…

This study looks at Canadian families' efforts to begin an inclusive life for their children with disabilities--and for society--"right off the bat," in the child care arena. It examines quality child care situations that welcome children with disabilities. It explores needed reform of public policy and programs to build on those…

These four issues of the quarterly publication of the Saskatchewan Literacy Network in Canada are each devoted to a separate aspect of literacy and literacy education. In addition to an editorial and series of articles on the issue topic, each issue includes book reviews and network news. Some issues also include interviews and annotated…

Literacy programs in the United States have taken either a preventive approach for children or a remediation approach for adults. A new approach, family literacy, involves both parents and children in literacy acquisition. The National Center for Family Literacy provides training and assistance to family literacy programs through a process called…

This paper reports on the findings of an evaluation of Project Giant Step, a program funded by New York City to provide comprehensive services to all 4-year-olds in the city, beginning with low-income children who are unserved by existing programs. Both the costs and effects of Project Giant Step are examined. Effects of the program on children…

This publication advances an agenda on children's issues for the New York State Legislature in the 1993 budget and legislative session. An opening section reviews the status of the state's children with respect to poverty. The following section argues for a series of remedies including raising the minimum wage, offering a state earned income tax…

Smart Start is North Carolina's partnership between state government and local leaders, service providers, and families to better serve children under 6 years and their families. This study examined characteristics of families participating in Smart Start, their child care arrangements and family activities, and their need for and use of community…

Intended to assist two-year colleges in understanding the educational aspects of the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Training Program, this five-part report provides a brief summary of the intent of the program, as well as suggestions regarding ways two-year colleges can become involved. The sections of the report offer information on…

A family literacy program for increasing 3- to 5-year-old children's literacy skills by educating their Mexican American parents is evaluated. Project Family Literacy--Aprendiendo, Mejorando, Educando ("Learning, Improving, Educating") (Project FLAME) is a federally funded program addressing Hispanic Americans' academic failure,…

The National Literacy Act of 1991 is a comprehensive approach for improving the literacy and basic skill levels of adults by coordinating, integrating, and investing in adult and family literacy programs at the federal, state, and local levels. The legislation provides for research and program delivery. All sectors, including public,…

This document provides a historical framework for better understanding the emergence of community-based family support and education (CBFSE) programs, their place within the larger service delivery system, and their potential for meeting the needs of children and families living in poverty. The paper is organized into five sections. The first…