A small group of hunger and homeless advocates launched HandsNet in 1987. Today, the interactive electronic network boasts more than 4,000 on-line subscribers and offers the local, state, and national human-services organizations a variety of opportunities for information-sharing. HandsNet forums cover such issues as children, youth, and families; housing and community development; welfare reform; health; and substance abuse.
For more information, call (408) 257-4500, or e-mail your request to hn0012@handsnet.org.
The Harvard Family Research Project has kicked off a quarterly newsletter on evaluating comprehensive children’s initiatives. The premier Winter 1995 issue of The Evaluation Exchange: Emerging Strategies in Evaluating Child and Family Services tackles such topicsas evaluating system reform and features articles on promising practices in Maryland and Georgia. It also offers information on resource and reading materials and invites reader responses.
For subscription information, call or write to the Harvard Family Research Project, Publications Department, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Longfellow Hall, Appian Way, Cambridge, Mass. 02138; (617) 495-9108.
Two Generation Programs for Families in Poverty: A New Intervention Strategy focuses on programs that combine services to help move parents off welfare and promote healthy child development. Edited by Sheila Smith, the director for research at the Foundation for Child Development, the new book describes successful efforts to bring together training, literacy, parenting, and child-care services. It also addresses policy implications, evaluation efforts, and directions for future research. Paperback copies are available for $24.95 (prepaid, shipping included) from Ablex Publishing Corporation, 355 Chestnut St., Norwood, N.J. 07648.
Last year, a coalition of national groups convened to draft a set of principles for community-based, school-linked programs that blend education, health, and human services. Now, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Integrated Services is getting ready to launch a series of projects to spread those principles to communities and states. Representatives from the Council of Chief State School Officers, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Education Association serve as chairs of the coalition, which has received foundation support to provide guidance, information, and seed money to a small number of projects and prepare resource materials for wider dissemination.
For more information, write or call Shelly Hara, Council of Chief State School Officers, 1 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20001; (202) 336-7072.
The U.S. Education Department and the American Educational Research Associationhave published a compendium of the proceedings from the fall 1994 Working Conference on School-Linked Comprehensive Services for Children and Families. Sponsored in collaboration with several other organizations, the conference featured presentations and papers on such topics as early-childhood, elementary, and adolescent programs; interprofessional development; cultural sensitivity; and evaluation.
For a free copy of “School-Linked Comprehensive Services for Children and Families: What We Know and What We Need To Know,” call Joyce Lowery at (202) 219-1935; or fax your request to Naomi Karp at (202) 273-4768.
Collaboration is the subject of two 1994 reports published jointly by the Danforth Foundation and the Institute for Educational Renewal at Miami University in Ohio. “Expanding Partnerships: Involving Colleges and Universities in Interprofessional Collaboration and Service Integration” makes the case for involving higher education in school-community linkages, explores the barriers, and offers case studies and guidelines on developing programs. “Serving Children, Youth, and Families Through Interprofessional Collaboration and Service Integration: A Framework for Action” provides advice on innovative ways to structure collaborative initiatives linked to schools.
For more information, call Katharine Hooper-Briar at (513) 529-6849.
