Childcare workers play a significant role in the learning and development of children in their care. This has major implications for the training of workers. Under new reforms of the childcare industry, the Australian government now requires all workers to obtain qualifications from a vocational education and training provider (e.g. Technical and…

In the journal section Improving the Lives of Children: Three Programs from around the World, this article about childminding-known as family child care in the U.S.-discusses advances in the training and professionalism of home-based child care providers in Britain. The author explains childminding networks, and looks at the contributions of…

Objective: Use of some restrictive procedures, including physical restraint, has been controversial. For children within the foster care system, who have already suffered various degrees of abuse and neglect, restrictive procedures could add to their emotional and behavioral problems. The current study was conducted to determine whether a…

The "Learning Together" longitudinal study focuses on four counties' efforts to expand bachelor's degree opportunities in early care and education (ECE) for adults currently working in the field. The "student cohort model"--in which small groups of ECE students with similar interests and characteristics pursue a bachelor's…

Background: Cognitive representations of challenging behaviour among staff may influence therapeutic outcomes. This study looked at how cognitive dimensions of Identity, Cause, Consequences, Emotional Reaction and Treatment/Control are affected by training. Materials and Methods: A theoretically derived questionnaire was used to measure the impact…

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate active support (AS) training and to investigate changes to perceived engagement in domestic tasks, opportunities for choice, frequency of challenging behaviour, and level of support needs. Method: Participants were 12 adults with ID aged 27-57 years (M = 37 years) residing in three group homes, and…

Interest in expanding access to higher education has been driven by concerns about ethnic and linguistic stratification within the early childhood workforce, and building a pipeline for diversifying the early care and education (ECE) field's leadership. "Cohort" B.A. completion programs, which target small groups of adults working in ECE…

In 2006, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Early Learning Initiative (ELI) to improve the school readiness of Washington State's children through three main strategies: (1) development of high-quality, community-wide early learning initiatives in two communities; (2) enhancement of statewide systems that support early…

Restorative care attempts to break the cycle of dependency and functional decline in nursing homes by addressing individual resident needs. The Restorative Care Education and Training (RCET) Program consists of a five-week workshop and resource manual for both supervisory and direct care staff. This paper describes the RCET approach and presents…

The number of individuals diagnosed with autism has risen at an alarming rate. Expanding services should be a primary consideration of programs for children and their families. This article presents outcome data from a week-long parent education program for families of children with autism to suggest that parents can learn not only how to…

This report reflects the first year of a multiyear effort to examine B.A. completion cohort programs in early care and education in four California counties. The six programs under investigation were developed with similar goals: (1) To increase and retain a pool of B.A.-level professionals in the ECE field with culturally, linguistically, and…

Describes the Home-Based Child Care Program, an initiative to improve child care quality by providing training to kith-and-kin caregivers and to family child care providers in three New York City low-income immigrant communities and by expanding local employment opportunities. Notes that the program achieved its primary goals, providing…

Purpose: This article describes, and provides data on, an innovative, comprehensive, dementia-specific training program designed to teach direct care staff in assisted living residences to improve care and reduce problems in residents with dementia. Design and Methods: STAR--which stands for Staff Training in Assisted living Residences- provides…

Purpose: This article reports on the development and field testing of the Savvy Caregiver Program, the transformation of a successful, academic-based caregiver psychoeducational program into a self-contained program that can be adopted in other locations. Design and Methods: Program development began with a prototype of a 12-hr course with the…

Objectives: This study examined health care cost outcomes resulting from a health education program (HEP), a social work intervention for spouse caregivers of frail older adults. Method: One-hundred five spouses were recruited and randomly assigned to HEP or usual care (UC). Health care utilization and cost data were collected from the HMO's…