This "Handbook" offers a broad definition of family and community engagement, seen through the lens of scholars and practitioners with a wide-ranging set of perspectives on why and how families, communities, and schools collaborate with one another. Taken together, the chapters in this "Handbook" sketch out the components of a…

Students with disabilities face many barriers that cause them to be less successful than they could be. Virtual mentoring provides opportunities for employers in the community to act as mentors to the students, thereby enhancing community ties and creating positive public relations. This article explores the ways that a group electronic mentoring…

This manual aims to help communities develop a plan to improve services to children from birth to 3 years of age who are chronically ill or disabled, and their families. Section I provides background information needed to begin a Community Approach to an Integrated Service System (CAISS) committee in a community. It addresses the issue that…

Four papers focus on the processes involved in developing a community team for providng services to handicapped preschoolers. Jerry Elder and Elynor Kazuk review steps in beginning a community team approach in "Getting Started," including the mechanics of planning and conducting an initial meeting to explain the advantages of collaborative…

This article synthesizes descriptions of and recommendations for community transition teams which assist in the transition of youth with learning or other disabilities from school to adult life. The levels, composition, and functions of transition teams are described. Community-level transition teams are shown to be critical support vehicles for…

This document presents one module in a set of training resources for trainers to use with parents and/or professionals serving children with disabilities; focus is on effective community advisory committees (CACs). The modules stress content and activities that build skills and offer resources to promote parent-professional collaboration. Each…

Developed as part of a project to integrate youth with disabilities into regular recreational and leisure activities, this report attempted to identify several programs and specific types of leisure activities that children, adolescents, and young adults with and without disabilities can enjoy together regardless of skill level. Case studies are…

This article describes development of a collaboration between early intervention service providers and children's librarians to address parental needs for information, referral, and support; provision of inclusion and socialization opportunities for infants and toddlers in local community libraries; and strategies for delivering early intervention…

The workbook is intended to help people working on a community level to secure services for handicapped children. It assumes that the reader already has gathered data to determine gaps in the community's existing service system and that a list of needed services has been identified and prioritized. An introductory section examines what is meant by…

A proposed 3-year project in Albany, New York will train 90 senior citizen volunteers to work in rural special education classrooms and with handicapped children and their parents in the children's homes. The project goal is the creation of a network of training systems and personnel to assist schools in improving special education services.…

This strategy guide is for mentors, support workers and coaches who are working with school-aged children and youth who are affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). In addition to supporting these children and youth at home and in the community, mentors may be involved in advocating for and supporting them at school. This guide…

This fact sheet offers basic information on developing and implementing rural respite and crisis nursery programs. It first defines "respite" as temporary relief for caregivers and families of children with disabilities, chronic or terminal illnesses, and/or for children at risk of abuse and neglect. It also defines "rural" and…

This report presents recommendations that address needed changes and improvements in state policies, administrative practices, and school and community service programs, in relation to school-to-adult-life transition of young people with disabilities in Minnesota. Recommendations were derived from two sources: (1) reviews of state plans and…

In the executive report to the 1990 annual report the Virginia Board for Rights of the Disabled summarizes findings from the analysis of 47 federally-assisted and state-funded programs serving individuals with developmental disabilities in Virginia as well as a consumer satisfaction survey polling 309 Virginians with developmental disabilities.…

This 1990-91 program evaluation reports on the special education instructional programs of the Des Moines, Iowa, public schools which serve approximately 3,600 students daily and over 5,000 students per year with special education services as prescribed in their Individualized Education Plans. The three primary sources of program funding are: (1)…