The purpose of this article is to review substantive and methodological advances in interventive research. Three substantive advances are discussed: (a) the growing use of a risk factor perspective, (b) the emergence of practice-relevant micro social theories, and (c) the increased acceptance of structured treatment protocols and manual. In…

The Comprehensive Services Program of Palm Beach County, Florida, was an ambitious and innovative effort to improve the school readiness of low-income children in Palm Beach County by identifying needs early and providing early intervention services to support physical, cognitive, and emotional health and development. Services were delivered to…

Findings are reported of a process evaluation of the Automated Performance Tracking and Productivity Improvement Project, a project developed to enhance the productivity and efficiency of child protective services (CPS) staff and to enable Region 10 of the Texas Department of Human Services to better meet federal and state performance guidelines.…

Summarizes the objectives, conceptual model, results, and implications of a project called Foster Care Training: A Comprehensive Approach, in British Columbia, Canada, which was designed to illustrate ways in which a networking model can provide increased support and training for participating foster parents. (BB)

This paper reviews the theoretical approaches that espouse a child-centred approach in intervening with street children. It focuses on two major themes, namely the rights of the child and client self-determination as proposed by Adler (Corey, 2001). The discussion acknowledges that providing street children with opportunities to participate in…

Forty-two rehabilitation counselors participated in a study regarding perceived training needs concerning alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) treatment and assessment. Participants reported that 85% of consumers with whom they worked had AODA issues, yet over half rated their graduate training in AODA treatment and assessment as poor, and their…

This report details a national survey, conducted in 2000, to document changes since 1998 in policies and practices for case management and environmental investigation for lead poisoned children; the study also investigated the impact of the previous national survey in precipitating change. Participating in the survey were program directors or…

Policy and practice for screening children for lead poisoning have dominated the dialogue about the health care system's role in lead poisoning prevention, with little attention directed to how the health care system responds to a lead-poisoned child once identified. This report details a study of the case management and environmental…

The purpose of this review is to analyze the school nursing role within the National Healthy School Standard (NHSS) in the United Kingdom with a view toward clarifying and strengthening the role of school nurses globally. Within the National Healthy School Standard framework, school nurses serve an integral role in linking health and education…

Financial incentives for teen parents are components of state welfare programs intended to encourage enrollment, attendance, and completion of high school as a means of increasing employment and earnings and reducing welfare dependence. The incentives take the form of bonuses and sanctions to the welfare grant related to school enrollment,…

Helping low-income families in rural areas find gainful employment and achieve economic self-sufficiency is an ongoing policy concern. The Rural Welfare-to-Work Strategies demonstration is using rigorous experimental designs to build knowledge about how to help low-income families in rural areas strive toward sustained employment and…

Describes the evaluative model used to examine unsuccessful family reunification. Discusses findings regarding parental ambivalence and its effect on child placement reentry and implications of the findings for individual case assessment and for permanency services in general. (BB)

A study of outcomes of child protection services for children and families in Oregon investigated the congruence between parental reports and data from case records, services parents perceived to be most helpful, and the capacity of protection services for future protection. (BB)

Seventeen of the Child Well-Being Scales were used as measures of the physical and psychological care of children. Comparisons between neglectful families and low-income control families yielded predicted differences. Composite indices showed good internal consistency. Concurrent validity was supported. Scales reliably classified neglectful and…

Objective: In 1997, Michigan's Family Independence Agency piloted case management procedures designed to expedite permanency and improve services to children in foster care. Method: A 3-year evaluation examined outcomes in nine pilot and nine comparison counties to determine if children in the pilot counties achieved permanency, either returned…