Significant gaps exist in children's mental healthcare, and barriers prevent access to existing services. Current federal initiatives call for state governmental agencies to recognize and resolve deficits in their systems of care. Previous work has acknowledged some of the problems in meeting the mental health needs of children within a system of…

In Mark Greenberg's view, a national child care strategy should pursue four goals. Every parent who needs child care to get or keep work should be able to afford care without having to leave children in unhealthy or dangerous environments; all families should be able to place their children in settings that foster education and healthy…

This article is concerned with the aged and looks briefly at the history of federal involvement in mental health care, discusses current trends, and examines the future of mental health care in the United States. (CMG)

Federal aid programs in education and other areas first appeared as categorical grants, permitting resources to be concentrated on specific policy areas and allowing accountability on the part of grantees to be demanded. During recent years block grants and general purpose grants, permitting greater local control, have grown more popular, partly…

Reviews national interests in education and considers the effectiveness of different forms of federal grants in addressing those interests. Concludes that providing equalization aid is the only appropriate purpose for block grants since such grants do not encourage state and local agencies to concern themselves with national priorities. (PGD)

The Advisory Panel on Financing Elementary and Secondary Education appointed by President Reagan in 1982 developed recommendations regarding both the Federal role in education and the practical means for carrying out that role. To encourage accountability and educational quality, the panel urged giving locally selected authorities primary…

This report summarizes and analyzes the actions of the 104th Congress in legislative areas of importance to children with serious emotional disturbances. Emphasis is on the obstacles now facing advocates and policymakers concerned with these children. An executive summary identifies program changes in child mental health services programs,…

This commentary focuses on the role of the Canadian federal government in early childhood development policy. The commentary begins by exploring the twin pillars of Canada's family policy, income support and services, then asserts that policy must move beyond these traditional provisions to offer early childhood development initiatives that will…

State advisory councils have been established by Congress to serve as an instrument for developing systematic, effective communications linkages between the world of education and the world of work. They are also intended to serve as advisors and independent evaluators of vocational education programs and to report their findings to appropriate…

Although federal involvement in education has been reduced in the 1980's under the Reagan Administration's "New Federalism," it is far from clear that state and local governments are willing and able to adequately compensate for this decreasing involvement to ensure educational equity and quality. In the current debate over federalism,…

The 1996 welfare reform law--the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act--has contradictory aspects. It gives the states greatly increased fiscal flexibility and at the same time sets extensive and elaborate new behavioral requirements. The dynamics of welfare since the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935 have been…

This report describes the opinions of a number of groups on five roles attributed to vocational education (i.e., employability skills development, occupational skills development, work experience, job placement, and basic skills development). The findings were based on a secondary analysis of data from five completed National Center for Research…