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Parents with young children receiving relationship-based home visiting and infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) services want flexibility and hybrid approaches that combine in-person and remote services. This is the top finding from a national study of parents served by seven geographically and demographically diverse program sites across the US. Centering the needs of parents and caregivers who must now engage in services with their children in different ways is critical for equitable service delivery. To do so calls on early childhood leaders to find the openness to change, backed up with practice adaptations that families value.

This article describes the development, implementation, and outcomes of a pilot intervention designed to enhance preschool programs' ability to support children's social-emotional development. Working with two Head Start programs, the intervention included (1) restructuring existing early childhood mental health consultation services; (2) engaging programs in a mental health-specific strategic planning; (3) providing training to program staff in early childhood mental health best practices; and (4) implementing staff wellness activities to promote a healthy organizational culture. Research Findings: Results from quantitative staff surveys found significant improvement over time in terms of reduced staff stress, increased levels of understanding of best practices in early childhood mental health, and more evidence of a shared understanding of how best to meet children's mental health needs. Results were strongest for management and teaching staff, compared to other staff types. Practice Implications: Head Start and preschool programs may benefit from institutionalizing strategies to ensure that continued attention is paid to their program's mental health services through ongoing strategic planning, supporting staff wellness, and by effective use of mental health consultants. Mental health consultants may be most valuable when they focus on capacity-building activities such as staff coaching and training, and working with management teams to ensure a collective "mental health perspective".

Meeting the needs of families who are involved with the child welfare system because of a substance abuse issue remains a challenge for child welfare practitioners. In order to improve services to these families, there has been an increasing focus on improving collaboration between child welfare, treatment providers, and the court systems. This paper presents the results from qualitative interviews with 104 representatives of these three systems that explore how the collaborative process works to benefit families, as well as the barriers and supports for building successful collaborations. Results indicate that collaboration has at least three major functions: building shared value systems, improving communication, and providing a "team" of support. Each of these leads to different kinds of benefits for families as well as providers and has different implications for building successful collaborative interventions. Despite these putative benefits, providers within each system, however, continue to struggle to build effective collaborations, and they face such issues as deeply ingrained mistrust and continued lack of understanding of other systems' values, goals, and perspectives. Challenges that remain for successful collaborations are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 2 footnotes.)

The complex issues associated with barriers to treatment entry for parents who are involved with child welfare has not been well explored. Accessing "timely" treatment is now critical for these parents since the introduction of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, limiting the time until a permanency decision is made. Using a longitudinal, qualitative approach, substance-abusing parents from 15 families, their relevant family members, and service providers were interviewed approximately every 3 months over an 18-month period. The experiences of these parents add to our knowledge of the unique barriers this population faces, and expands our understanding of the mechanisms by which certain barriers may delay treatment. (Contains 1 footnote.)

One strand of home visiting research investigates efficacy while another investigates under what conditions programs achieve outcomes. The current study follows the latter approach. Using a within-program design in a sample of 11 home-based sites in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation study, this study found that three components of home visits ("quantity" of involvement including number of home visits, duration in the program, length of visits and intensity of service; "quality" of engagement including global ratings of engagement by staff and ratings of engagement during each home visit; and the extent to which home visits were "child focused") represented distinguishable aspects of home visit services. Demographic variables predicted components of involvement, and home visit involvement components were differentially related to outcomes at 36 months, after controlling for demographic/family factors and earlier functioning on the same measure. Only one "quantity" of involvement variable (duration) predicted improvements in home language and literacy environments at 36 months. "Quality" of involvement variables were negative predictors of maternal depressive symptoms at 36 months. Finally, the proportion of time during the visit devoted to "child-focused" activities predicted children's cognitive and language development scores, parent HOME scores, and parental support for language and learning when children were 36 months of age. Implications for home visiting programs and policies are discussed.

In response to (a) an increasing need to support children with emotional and behavioral challenges in childcare settings and (b) the high rates of expulsion among preschool children, mental health consultation in early childhood settings is becoming an increasingly popular intervention strategy. At the same time, there is little agreement or empirical evidence to help early childhood program managers and other professionals make decisions about the most important characteristics and services that mental health consultants should provide. The current study presents findings from a nationally representative survey of 74 Head Start programs and 655 Head Start directors, staff members, and mental health consultants to use in addressing this gap. Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), the authors present results suggesting that the single most important characteristic of mental health consultants is their ability to build positive collaborative relationships with program staff members. The frequency of consultant activities was important, primarily because consultants who provided more frequent services were reported to have more positive relationships with staff members. These results were significant even after controlling for program-level characteristics, such as program size, budget for mental health services, and ratio of consultant hours to number of children.

Despite mandates for Head Start programs to provide mental health services to families and children, considerable variability remains in the level and type of services provided by mental health consultants. A qualitative study was conducted to explore staff perceptions about the role of mental health consult- ants and, in particular; the ways in which consultants are (or are not) integrated into the day-to-day functioning of Head Start programs. Programs with integrated mental health models were characterized by strong positive relationships between consultants and program staff; perceptions that the consultant was "part of the team," and involvement of the consultant in a wide variety of program activities and components. Results suggested that programs with such an integrated mental health model were more likely (compared to those with a more traditional consultant model) to report a strong, unified vision for mental health services, to describe a mental health approach consistent with current promising practices, and to perceive their mental health services to be more effective. (Contains 2 tables and 4 footnotes.)

Outlines some nonrandomized constructed comparison strategies that can be used to evaluate interventions for children and illustrates their use for outcome variables that would be expected to change over age if no treatment were given. The proposed strategy consists of determining an expected age function for the dependent variable using pretest scores for the children or older siblings. (SLD)

Racial differences in school readiness are a form of health disparity. By examining, from the perspective of low-income minority families participating in an Early Head Start study, community and policy environments as they shape and inform lived experiences, we identified several types of social and economic dislocation that undermine the efforts of parents to ready their children for school. The multiple dislocations of community triggered by housing and welfare reform and 'urban renewal' are sources of stress for parents and children and affect the health and development of young children. Our findings suggest that racial differences in school readiness result not from race but from poverty and structural racism in American society. (Am J Public Health. 2009;99: 205-210. doi:10.2105/AJPH. 2005.068569)

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2006.08.006 Byline: Beth L. Green (a), Anna Rockhill (b), Carrie Furrer (c) Keywords: Substance abuse; Child welfare system; Treatment services Abstract: Although substance abuse is one of the primary reasons that parents become involved with the child welfare system, there is surprisingly little empirical research that examines the relationship of substance abuse treatment to child welfare outcomes. In this statewide longitudinal study of 1911 women who had children placed in substitute care, we examined the influence of three key factors in the treatment process on child welfare outcomes. Results indicated that when these women entered treatment more quickly, spent more time in treatment, or completed at least one treatment episode, their children spent fewer days in foster care and were more likely to be reunified with their parents. These findings were significant even controlling for families' levels of risk including treatment and child welfare history, substance abuse frequency and chronicity, and demographic risks. Implications of these findings for improvements in the way that treatment services are provided to women in the child welfare system are discussed. Author Affiliation: (a) NPC Research, 4380 SW Macadam Ave, Suite 530, Portland, OR, 97239, United States (b) Child Welfare Partnership, United States (c) NPC Research, United States Article History: Received 12 November 2005; Revised 1 August 2006; Accepted 9 August 2006

The passage of the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), which calls for timely permanency planning for children placed into state foster care systems, has led to increased attention to the need for timely and appropriate treatment services to families with substance abuse issues who are involved with child welfare. Using statewide administrative data collected before and after the implementation of ASFA, the present study explores the influence of ASFA, as well as other family characteristics, on patterns of treatment service utilization by child-welfare involved clients. Findings suggest that in the period following the ASFA legislation, mothers entered substance abuse treatment significantly more quickly after the start of their child welfare cases, and remained in treatment longer, compared to pre-ASFA. No differences in rates of treatment completion were found. Results are interpreted in terms of the changing treatment service context, enhanced collaboration between child welfare and treatment systems, and the possible influence of the legislation on parents' motivation to enter treatment. Keywords: child welfare, ASFA, treatment utilization, women, INTRODUCTION Although prevalence estimates vary, there is little question that a large proportion of parents who are involved in public child welfare systems have problems with either drugs or alcohol [...]

We explored the perspectives and experiences of low-income, predominantly African American families regarding children's school-readiness. Our research, which involved qualitative interviews, ethnographic case studies, and 'photovoice' methods, focused on families participating in the national evaluation of Early Head Start. While valuing academic skills, study parents emphasized the importance of social and emotional health in regard to both children's and parents' readiness to begin school. These developments are especially critical given the challenges parents perceive in local school environments. On the basis of a social ecology framework, we argue that psychological and environmental dimensions of school readiness are public health matters and that understanding the perspectives of low income and minority parents on such issues is a critical aspect of health communication dedicated to eliminating health disparities.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an approach to research and evaluation that is receiving increased attention in the field of public health. Our report discusses the application of this approach to research and evaluation with an Early Head Start (EHS) program in Pittsburgh, Pa. Our primary purpose is to illustrate the key elements that contributed to effective collaboration among researchers, EHS practitioners, and parents of EHS children in the conduct of the study. The focus is not on research findings but on research process. Our goal is to make the practices of CBPR visible and explicit so they can be analyzed, further developed, and effectively applied to a range of public health issues in a diversity of community contexts.

Parents with young children receiving relationship-based home visiting and infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) services want flexibility and hybrid approaches that combine in-person and remote services. This is the top finding from a national study of parents served by seven geographically and demographically diverse program sites across the US. Centering the needs of parents and caregivers who must now engage in services with their children in diferent ways is critical for equitable service delivery. To do so calls on early childhood leaders to find the openness to change, backed up with practice adaptations that families value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sometimes, without recourse to controlling rewards, it is difficult to secure desirable behaviors. Yet, much work has demonstrated the damaging effect that such rewards can have on subsequent independent interest in the reward-induced behavior. Therefore, one who feels required to use controlling rewards to increase desirable action in another faces a dilemma: Failing to employ the rewards means foregoing the desired conduct in the immediate situation, but applying them risks undermining the other's long-term interest in the conduct. We tested a technique designed to avoid this dilemma by (a) providing a controlling reward to obtain the desired action, but (b) then attributing the action to an abiding trait of the actor. Using this technique, we were able to reverse the damaging impact of a controlling reward on children's motivation to write well.

Previous research and theorizing have suggested a 'fundamental paradox' in that individuals appear to be predisposed, both culturally and genetically, to be attracted to traditionally gender-typed members of the other sex even though pairings between gender-typed persons are less than optimal for long-term relationship satisfaction. Two studies were undertaken to clarify the relationship between gender-typed traits and heterosexual attraction. Male and female subjects indicated how desirable opposite-sex targets would be for a date, a one-night sexual encounter, and/or marriage. The gender-typing of the target was manipulated such that each target was perceived as androgynous, masculine, feminine, or undifferentiated. Results indicated that both sexes perceived opposite-sex androgynous targets to be more desirable for each type of relationship. Further, for both sexes, possession of feminine/expressive characteristics was more important than possession of masculine/instrumental characteristics.

In 3 experiments, Ss' public statements of attitude change conformed to the norm of reciprocity, in that the most change on a topic was accorded to a persuader who had yielded to the S's earlier persuasive attempt on a prior topic, and the least such change was accorded to a persuader who had resisted the S's persuasive attempt. This tendency was unaffected by perceptions of the persuader's likability and intelligence, personal relevance of the topic, and strength of the arguments. Private change matched the pattern of public change only when the arguments Ss received were strong, and Ss could (mistakenly attribute much of their reciprocation-induced change to the cogency of the arguments. Implications are discussed for the internalization of socially desirable conduct.

This paper uses a reflective, retrospective case study methodology to analyze data from a 10-year University-Community partnership focused on supporting implementation and improvement of a Prenatal-Grade 3 (P3) system in an elementary school. Using a framework for centering equity in Collective Impact approaches, we analyze the steps we took as research partners/program evaluators to address racial and other inequities while highlighting missed opportunities to better center racial equity in the evaluation and P3 Initiative work. Through our analysis, we seek to identify where and how racial inequities surfaced, to describe how systemic racism influenced the evaluation and P3 Initiative process, and how this served to perpetuate the status quo and prevent transformative systems change. Results speak to opportunities for researchers, funders, and policymakers to identify and disrupt conventionally-accepted approaches to educational research and to work more effectively to advance educational equity for children and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]