In this webinar, Dr. Joyce Epstein, Director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and the National Network of Partnership Schools, discussed what the research says about effective family engagement. The webinar and PowerPoint presentation are also available. A brief list of resources is included.

Discusses utility of Kantor and Lehr's three family types for the study of divorce, including these types in their ideal and flawed forms. Traces a course for each type, from factors leading to divorce through plausible postdivorce responses. Closes with implications for the treatment and study of families who divorce. (Author/ABL)

Three criticisms of family-centered models of early intervention for individuals with disabilities are put forth: the definition of family is indeterminate; early interventionists bring their own conceptions of the meaning of family to their work; and empirical research about family processes and their relationship to individuals' development is…

Parents are one of the most important influences in positive child and youth development, yet too many caregivers, especially those in higher risk families, fail to receive supports that would improve parenting and family functioning. By strengthening parent/caregivers and their connections to resources, communities can improve child and youth…

The article focuses on a humanistic-relational model for parent education groups in families with neurologically impaired children. The author presents the case for educating parents, stating the need which exists for trained personnel to work with impaired children, and the need to educate the whole family unit to effect change with the child.…

Models of collaboration among disciplines and among agencies have been developed in the early intervention field in response to the need for service coordination for young special needs children and their families. Case management is seen as a mechanism for effectively coordinating these services, and encompasses the tasks of assessing client…

This paper offers a conceptual framework for the intersection of work and family roles based on the constructs of work involvement and family involvement. The theoretical and empirical literature on the intersection of work and family roles is reviewed from two analytical approaches. From the individual level of analysis, the literature reviewed…

Synthesizes the research on infant-parent interaction and proposes a model for introducing and including infant-parent interaction in family-centered early intervention with young children having disabilities. The model stresses the family's vision for the child's future and the family's role in active decision making. (DB)

This response to Baird and Peterson (EC 617 085) suggests that the original authors' conceptions of family-centered philosophy and intervention in parent-child interaction are inaccurate. They note the importance of parent-child interactions and the need for intervention procedures to be based on the parent-child interaction literature. (DB)

This article argues that current models of intervention for infants and toddlers with disabilities suffer from conflicting research results and practical implementation problems and discusses alternative approaches, including the need for comprehensive needs assessment, protocols for matching services with needs, interagency system changes, and a…

Schools increasingly are ineffective institutions for a growing number of children and youth. Problems of the schools are connected with other institutional problems within the family and the health care system. As a society, Americans have tended to wait until children's needs and problems have reached epidemic proportions and then have provided…

This article stresses the importance of family involvement in the assistive technology assessment process and offers a model which considers such issues as expenditures/funding for technology, travel practices and transportation, and satisfaction with services being provided. Other issues discussed include the need to clarify professional…

This article discusses a family-centered approach to assistive technology assessment for young children with mental retardation or developmental disabilities and their families. After a literature review, legal definitions of assistive technology are examined, and a model is presented for supporting and involving families in technology assessment…

Presents a multisystemic approach to adolescent pregnancy, describing primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. The article explains health educators' roles in establishing multisystemic programs in primary prevention environments and describes a multisystemic theoretical model of adolescent pregnancy that utilizes interpersonal, family, and…

Claims that children's peer relations are significant in their social, cognitive, and moral development, and are correlated to later problems in social adjustment. Includes a brief historical perspective on the subject, and explores direct and indirect influences. Claims that peer relations develop within ecological frameworks, and identifies the…