Twenty-one families participated as members of experimental or control groups in a study which investigated the effects of family-oriented intervention on the stress level of families with young handicapped children (average age 2 years) whose impairments were primarily developmental delay or cerebral palsy. Parents completed the Parenting Stress…

Parental death or divorce can have serious effects on children. It is important for adults and teachers to provide support and to be available to listen to the child on an age appropriate level. This paper describes the emotional impact of loss on children both when a marriage is ending and when a parent is seriously ill or is recently deceased.…

This document consists of a combination of two separately published fact sheets, one on crisis nursery care for children at risk of abuse or neglect and one on respite care for families of children with disabilities or chronic illness. The fact sheet on crisis nursery care presents background information on the federal role in developing crisis…

In 1985, the Chancellor of West Valley College met with California Attorney General John Van De Kamp to explore methods by which the community college district could respond to the growing problem of drug abuse. The first step was the establishment of a 15-hour, fee-supported class on drug and alcohol abuse education for adult offenders at the…

Funded in part by a two-year grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Greene County Family Center in southwest Pennsylvania allows clients to meet with representatives from county human services agencies and offers many services including Head Start, crisis intervention, tutoring programs, adult education programs, and other services to…

Claims that the juvenile justice system provides an array of interventions but that culturally relevant programs are necessary to deal with the myriad of social problems. Introduces the MAAT (Egyptian for virtuous or moral life) Center for Human and Organizational Enhancement Inc. and its Rites of Passage program, which uses an Afrocentric…

This is an early assessment of the Rural Community Service Coordinator Program (RCSCP), organized by the University of Missouri Extension Service using funds from the federal Food Security Act of 1985. Five full-time coordinators were named by area mental health officials to help rural people cope with despair and emotional disturbances caused by…

The eight papers in this compendium were commissioned from faculty and staff members to provide a research and theoretical base for selected components of a University of Kentucky report on a teaching experience involving mainstreamed elementary school children. That experience was reported in "Perspectives of an Ivory Tower Realist," a monograph…

The pervasiveness of stress as a problem, with its many harmful effects on people, makes it a matter of growing interest for counselors and other personnel workers. This monograph provides definitions of stress, distress, and eustress, and discusses numerous causes of distress, as well as the benefits of stress to a healthy, productive life.…

When parents are unavailable for their children, or simply do not know what to do when a youngster is experiencing an overwhelming stressor, the parent's response, or lack of, can compound the child's psychosocial difficulties. Even though some youngsters overcome the adversity of inadequate parenting, others cannot and consequently experience…

The elementary school counselor plays a significant role in the aftermath of peer victimization in the school setting. Counselors increase their effectiveness when they are trained in crisis intervention, have worked in their schools to prevent such incidents from occurring, and have a plan to address victims' needs when bullying does occur. (LSR)

Five bulletins of the National Center for Clinical Infant Programs include articles with the following titles and authors: "Infant Day Care: A Cause for Concern?" (Jay Belsky); "Model versus Modal Child Care for Children from Low-Income Families (Donna Wittmer); "Therapeutic Childcare at Merrywood School" (Maxine Siegel); "Individual Differences…

What happened in the small farm community of Elk Point, South Dakota, on January 8, 1986, was unimaginable--a father shot his family and then walked to work and shot himself. Upon learning of the murder/suicide, the Elk Point School District faced the difficult questions of what teachers should say to students, how the district should deal with…

This monograph describes Families First, a family-designed system of mental health care for children in Essex County, New York. Philosophical principles of family-driven service delivery are outlined and illustrated with comments from participants. The planning that went into developing the Families First program is described, including initial…

This book reports on a 3-year project involving the design and implementation of a coordinated demonstration program for the treatment of child sexual abuse in rural Manitoba (Canada). The purpose of the project was to address problems resulting from child sexual abuse services that are sporadic and uncoordinated in rural Canadian communities.…