The Community Connections preschool program (herein referred to as Community Connections) was developed to help prepare children in home-based child care for success in school and in life. It has three goals: (1) to make state prekindergarten classroom experiences available to children in home-based care, (2) to extend classroom learning…

Visits were made to selected respite care and crisis nursery programs in order to describe the programs and services they offered to families of young children with special needs and to learn more about the families who used the services and the staff who provided them. The visits to 10 crisis nurseries and 24 respite care programs resulted in…

This guide is a resource to help trainers and child care center directors implement a 13-module training program for caregivers serving children under 3 years of age. The first section of the guide describes what the trainer needs to know or do to implement the training program. The second section lists the steps in the training process for each…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of SpecialCare Outreach, a program designed to expand inclusive child care options for families of young children with severe disabilities through replication of the SpecialCare model of training while developing linkages for collaboration through interagency planning groups. The…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the M-TIKES (Missouri-Training Individuals to Care for Exceptional Students) Outreach Project, which used a "train-the-trainer" model to increase the number of child care providers trained to integrate children with and without disabilities. The project's major objectives were…

This pilot study investigated methods for meeting the needs of children under 2.5 years of age who attend play centers with older children. Also studied were the effects of the toddlers' presence on the other children, parent helpers, and supervisors. Advisors at each of 27 play centers in New Zealand completed a questionnaire with the help of…

This final report describes the outcomes of a 3-year federally funded outreach project that was designed to increase access to quality center-based child care for infants and toddlers with disabilities. The project served 14 child care centers in West Virginia, 12 child care centers in Texas, 13 child care centers in Alabama and 6 child care…

This practicum focused on the improvement of parent/caregiver relationships with approximately 65 children (ages birth through age 3) prenatally exposed to drugs or alcohol. The project utilized six Infant Development Instructors and local health support services. The 8-month program implementation involved Infant Development Instructor training,…

Based on the view that promoting the emotional wellness of young children and fostering secure, warm relationships between chidren and their teachers are critical to healthy early development, the Jewish Family and Children's Services (JFCS)/Parents Place collaborated with the City and County of San Francisco's Community Mental Health Division and…