The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a data collection system of the National Center for Education Statistics that concentrates on aspects of education that can best be addressed through contacts with households rather than institutions. The NHES is a telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized civilian population of the United…

This paper addresses the current status of foster care, how the system got that way, and the characteristics of a reconceptualized foster care system that will be responsive to today's social conditions as an integral part of broad child welfare reform. The paper begins by discussing four factors that have contributed to the dramatic increase in…

Beginning in the fall of 1999, all programs of the Child and Youth Services Administration of the District of Columbia Commission on Mental Health Services were ordered to implement a performance improvement plan. This report looks at how successful one clinic was in improving performance in one year. The objectives were to: (1) increase the…

This publication takes the strong position that many problems in education can be solved by promoting strong, diverse, and autonomous families. Based on the premise that the family is the fundamental unit of society, the document seeks to empower parents and return public schooling to its original purpose of providing community assistance for…

Reviews empirical research on the effects of deinstitutionalization programs on families, focusing on family treatment, labeling, scapegoating of the youth, and widening the net of the juvenile justice system. Raises concerns about the potential cost of deinstitutionalization to family members brought into treatment. (Author/MJL)

Behavioural family intervention is an effective form of intervention for the prevention and treatment of a wide range of emotional and behavioural problems in children. There is a growing need to address the accessibility of these services. This paper reviews the literature on self-directed interventions designed to help parents manage difficult…

This article discusses transition planning for students with special needs from diverse cultural backgrounds. First, an overview of individualist versus collectivist values is presented. Then, a comparison is made between individualist and collectivist values and how they may impact transition planning with respect to family involvement,…

Given the documented benefits of family involvement in educational planning, engaging families throughout the school years is strongly advocated. However, barriers continue to impede families from collaborative partnering in educational planning. In this qualitative study the perceptions of six families were examined prior to and after the…

A current empirical review of the treatment efficacy of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) for adolescent conduct problems (CP) was conducted. Conclusions based on this review suggest that MST can be a very powerful alternative to the usual legal and social service approaches (e.g. justice system, day treatment programs) used in the treatment of…

S. Redding noted the many challenges facing research and researchers in family-school-community involvement, and he presented a call to "rally the troops" to respond to a series of concerns. The issue of control over defining the role of schools should be a shared enterprise among the family, the school, and the community, with the individual…

The influence of child and family sociodemographic variables on service utilization was investigated with infants with disabilities and their families from three states. Of the 157 infants and toddlers studied, 149 had some form of scheduled service for the 4 specific weeks examined. Of the scheduled service encounters, about 72 percent were…

This qualitative study examined the perspectives of people with significant disabilities (N=23) and their family members about their overall employment experiences, outcomes, and expectations. Four focus groups were convened, two groups of people with significant disabilities and two groups of family members. Disabilities represented included…

This paper reports on several projects conducted in Georgia over the past 2 years that move the development of respite care services toward the goal of becoming a "cooperative, collaborative, and coordinated" effort. An overview of respite care in Georgia is provided as well as a summary of strategies used to provide such care. Emerging…

In an effort to provide maximum support for the reading success of its students, a primary school in a rural, coal mining area simultaneously developed a family reading program and a sustained silent reading (SSR) program. The major objective of the family reading program was to encourage parents to read to their children for 15 minutes a day,…

This final report discusses the activities and outcomes of a multi-site, multi-state outreach training project that used information generated from a proven model of exemplary practices previously funded by an early childhood education model demonstration program. The outreach training and technical assistance was developed in conjunction with…