The overall purpose of a child protection conference is to safeguard children. The conferences are multi-agency meetings that aim to ensure children's safety, promote children's health and development, and identify when a child is at continuing risk of significant harm. Law and policies in the United Kingdom highlight that parents and children…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 mandates parental involvement during Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Several factors including previous IEP experiences, level of ongoing communication between parents and education professionals, or existence of social and cultural capital resources can impact…

The Midwest Expansion of the Child-Parent Center Education Program (MCPC) is a pre-K to 3rd grade intervention program aimed at improving economically disadvantaged children's school success by enhancing continuity in instruction and increasing parental involvement. Opened in Chicago in the 1960s, this school reform model has undergone significant…

Public Law 99-457 extended the landmark Public Law 94-142 legislation to include early intervention for infants and toddlers with or at-risk for development of developmental disabilities. Currently over 300,000 infants and toddlers and their families in the United States receive services through Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities…

Researchers agree that a needs assessment is a critical first step in designing a full-service school, but the large task of orchestrating the necessary community collaboration for such projects has occupied most of the literature to date. This study examines the process of planning and implementing a needs assessment for a rural school serving…

This article describes the development of the "Triadic Intervention and Evaluation Rating Scale" (TIERS), a 33-item instrument designed to evaluate patterns of parent, service provider, and child interactions during early intervention sessions conducted in natural environments. Twenty-eight parent-provider-child triads were videotaped in home and…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

On March 15, 2007, Santa Barbara residents were shocked when a baby-faced 15-year-old high school student was stabbed to death in the heart of the city's fashionable State Street shopping district. His assailant, just 14, was a member of a rival street gang and a student at the local junior high. "It was a wakeup call for the entire…

A certified teacher and preschool parent involvement coordinator working in a parochial school designed and implemented a practicum study designed to increase children's success in school and improve the ability of parents and teachers to work effectively with preschoolers. The practicum intervention involved a commitment from the school's…

Materials are presented from a 1994 meeting on expanding community connections of the six-state Magnolia Circle Outreach Project, which fosters networking between families and professionals involved in services for children (birth to 5 years) with, or at risk for, developmental delays. The meeting was designed to highlight successful collaborative…

A practicum, carried out at a Head Start program in a large southern United States school district, was designed to use inservice training and print and video resources to help Head Start teachers and parents become more knowledgeable about the Head Start Policy Council (HSPC), which involves parents in the decision making in the Head Start…

On Head Start's 30th anniversary, highlights its components of parent involvement and family support, commitment to meeting local needs, training and technical assistance support, and collaborative approach. Also discusses the Head Start Reauthorization Act and the special advisory committee's recommendations for the improvement of the Head Start…

Comments on the development of partnerships across schools, colleges, community agencies, and families to support at-risk students, analyzing: barriers to interagency collaboration and interprofessional training and research; changes necessary in higher education to handle these barriers; and implications of lessons learned from existing…

This paper, a session proposal for a rural and small schools conference, reports on a project undertaken by 166 parents and staff of South Carolina's Target 2000 Parent Education Program to assess the effectiveness of the program's design and implementation process. The main research question studied concerned what were found to be the most…

This Tennessee State policy is designed to provide positive learning outcomes for young children and promote parent involvement and the coordination of services for children and families. Introductory material underscores the importance of early learning, summarizes results of preschool intervention programs such as Head Start, and identifies…