Resources

Focus on Families! How to Build and Support Family-Centered Practices in After School, from the Harvard Family Research Project, was developed for after school providers looking to create or expand an existing family engagement program. Program leaders, local decision makers, funders, and others interested in promoting good family involvement practice will also find the guide vital to their work. The guide provides a research base for why family engagement matters, concrete program strategies for engaging families, case studies of promising family engagement efforts, and an evaluation tool for improving family engagement practices. (description taken from Harvard Family Research Project web site)

Parenting for Academic Success: A Curriculum for Families Learning English Research Base (background paper), prepared by the Center for Applied Linguistics, was designed to build the English language skills of parents learning English who have children in kindergarten through third grade. CAL developed this curriculum in collaboration with the National Center for Family Literacy, for more information about the curriculum, visit www.delta-systems.com. (description taken from Center for Applied Linguistics web site)

Pathways to Early School Success, Helping the Most Vulnerable Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families, from the National Center for Children in Poverty, this issue brief highlights 10 program and community strategies that can help the most vulnerable families and promote early school success even in the face of multiple demographic, economic, and parental barriers like depression and trauma that so impact young children. (description taken from National Center for Children in Poverty web site)

Helping America’s Youth, a web site created through the combined effort of nine federal agencies, offers free resources for community youth development in the form of an easy-to-use community guide. This site can help community members and service providers develop collaborations and assess the needs of children and youth in their community. A database of effective programs is provided, searchable by the risk and protective factors that the community has identified and plans to address.

  Research

Two-way and Monolingual English Immersion in Preschool Education: An Experimental Comparison, from the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, this working paper looks at preschool programs that have sought to keep pace with the increasing numbers of children who are English language learners. This paper from NIEER presents the findings from a randomized trial of the effects of dual language or two-way immersion and monolingual English immersion preschool programs on children's learning. Programs used in the study were compared on measures of children's growth in language, emergent literacy, and mathematics. (description taken from National Institute for Early Education Research web site)

The Influence of Culture and Cultural Competence on Child and Family Well-being, a special issue of the professional journal Protecting Children (Vol 20, No 1 (2005; 56 pages), from American Humane. This issue offers a review of the literature on factors contributing to disproportionality, information pertaining to cultural competence and Family and Child Well-being, and also includes an article on interviewing immigrant children and their families about child maltreatment. This journal can be ordered from the American Humane Web site.

Child Welfare Consent Decrees: An Analysis of 35 Court Actions from 1995 to 2005, from the Child Welfare League of America and National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues (a program of the ABA Center on Children and the Law), is a status report and update on child welfare consent decrees nationwide. It is intended that this research will help both policymakers and practitioners better understand the issues addressed in the final resolution of these cases and the collective outcomes of these suits. (description taken from Child Welfare League of America web site)

Funding News

Raising Resources: A More-Than-Fundraising Workshop Handbook, from the Empowerment Resource Network, this resource will help you identify resources appropriate for your organization's mission and then walk you through all the elements of raising those resources. These elements include devising an accurate mission statement, developing a finance plan, locating and understanding grant proposals, promoting your organization and building long term relationships with current and potential donors.

Mattel and the Mattel Children's Foundation will continue the second year of their Domestic Grantmaking Program. Through this effort, unsolicited applications for funds for organizations benefiting children in need in the United States are accepted, pending the eligibility requirements and guidelines. Charitable organizations that demonstrate they directly serve children in need may be eligible for grants of $5,000 up to $25,000. Funds may be applied to programs or general operating costs. For a list of Funding Priorities and eligibility requirements, visit the Mattel Children’s Foundation web site. Applications are being accepted from January 1, 2006 – June 30,2006. (description taken from the Mattel Children’s Foundation web site)

Fresh Ideas: Community-Based Approaches to Improve Care for Vulnerable Populations, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Vulnerable Populations Portfolio is seeking new community-based approaches to health and health care problems that intersect with social factors—such as inadequate housing, poor education and poverty. We are interested in projects that serve hard-to-reach individuals and families, especially new immigrants and refugees, frail older adults and at-risk adolescents. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. (description taken from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation web site)

Runaway and Homeless Youth Basic Center Program (BCP), from the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families; Family and Youth Services Bureau. The overall purpose of BCP is to provide a system of care for young runaways outside the traditional child welfare, mental health, law enforcement, or juvenile justice systems. Each program must provide a safe and appropriate shelter, and individual, family, and group counseling as appropriate. Optional services that programs may provide are: Street-based services; Home-based services for families with youth at risk of separation from the family; Drug abuse education and prevention services. Applications are due by March 28, 2006.

Maximizing Program Services Through Private Sector Partnerships and Relationships: A Guide for Faith- and Community-Based Service Providers , from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is a new guide for faith-based and community organizations that details the process by which faith & community-based organizations can build private sector partnerships. (description taken from the HHS SAMHSA Faith-Based and Community Initiatives publications website)

COMING SOON: 

April 2006 Feature on Child Abuse/Neglect and Foster Care: Our Spotlight Article, Featured Resources, and Side Bar on Promising Practices will focus on issues and resources for refugee youth transitioning to independence, giving special attention to the needs of those in this country without their parents and those in foster care.

BRYCS.org Tutorial: In order to enhance users' ability to navigate the BRYCS Web site, we present a request from the field, then take you on a step-by-step search of the BRYCS Clearinghouse. Look for our tutorial feature to appear in streaming video format this spring.

"Brighter Futures for Migrating Children: An Overview of Current Trends & Promising Practices in Child Welfare”: USCCB/MRS and BRYCS held this panel discussion at the end of February during the Child Welfare League of America’s 2006 National Conference in Washington D.C. The report – highlighting replicable promising practices and examples of successful collaborations - will be published soon on www.brycs.org.