Describes a collaborative, multidisciplinary developmental follow-up program for infants and toddlers who have been in out-of-home care. The program builds on the community-based family support model described in the Family to Family Foster Care Reform Initiative. Highlights the children's health and developmental status and program effectiveness.…

Inter-agency collaboration, service coordination, and the creation of successful partnerships among parents, teachers, and human services professionals continues to be a challenge for the development of responsive community-based systems of care for at-risk youth and their families. We explore how one inner-city neighborhood struggles to create…

We assessed parent satisfaction with children's mental health services with a new instrument: The Youth Services Survey for Families (YSSF). The Dillman method was used to administer the survey to a random sample of 1,500 parents of Medicaid youth from Kentucky's 14 community mental health centers (CMHCs). The response rate was 37% (n = 534…

"KidsCount in Colorado!" is an annual publication of the Colorado Children's Campaign, which provides the best available state- and county-level data to measure and track the education, health and general well-being of the state's children. KidsCount in Colorado! informs policy debates and community discussions, serving as a valuable…

Obesity among children and adolescents is a major public health concern affecting the physical and emotional health of youth while increasing their risk of reduced quality and duration of life. Schools and communities have begun to galvanize to address this epidemic and need quality empirical information to guide their policy, programming, and…

Urban minority children have higher rates of asthma morbidity due to multiple factors. Many school-based programs have been funded to improve asthma management, especially for these "high-risk" inner-city children with asthma. Here they report the outcomes of the Children's Hospital of Orange County Breathmobile program, which is a school-based…

Most discussions of welfare reform ignore two factors: its effect on children; and the fact that a welfare reform law, the Family Support Act of 1988 (FSA), already exists. FSA created state Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) welfare-to-work programs, and if the JOBS program is adequately funded, it can improve the lives of welfare…

A study examined the preparation of sick children's nurses to work in communities in the United Kingdom. Data were collected from the following: literature review; mail survey of the 43 colleges of nursing currently conducting the United Kingdom's Child Branch program for children's nursing (response rate, 81%); 18 focus group interviews with a…

This report examines five major components that affect minority children's access to health care. They are: health status, barriers to access, workforce, organizational response, and the role of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Recommendations are included for each of these components. Health status indicators for minority children…

Noting Congressional interest in encouraging low-income mothers to seek employment as an alternative to receiving welfare, this report describes a study of the impact of child care expenditures on mothers' decision to work and compares the differences in costs for poor, near-poor, and non-poor mothers. The study developed measures for predicted…

This briefing paper focuses on collaborations between schools, the health industry (specifically managed care organizations or MCOs), and all other agencies which have vested interests in promoting the health and success of children. The paper presents a vision of health that includes both medical and behavioral components, asserting that health…

This report presents international statistics on the status of children and families, and thus updates a 1988 fact sheet containing international comparisons of public policies promoting the well-being of children and families. Included in the report are data on basic demographic trends, family composition and marital dissolution, the economic…

This monograph from the Center for Child Well-Being, looks at children's well-being holistically, integrating physical, cognitive, and social-emotional dimensions. The monograph begins by identifying elements of child well-being and then reviews the literature on well-being, describing foundational elements in physical, social-emotional, and…

This paper takes advantage of a massive school construction program that took place in Indonesia between 1973 and 1978 to estimate the effect of education on fertility and child mortality. Time and region varying exposure to the school construction program generates instrumental variables for the average education in the household, and the…

The United States is recognized as leading the industrialized world in violent death rates. The increase in youth violence is primarily attributable to an increase in the "lethality" and not the "frequency" of violent acts because more crimes are being committed with handguns. This chapter reviews the existing literature on…