The U.S. military has been continuously engaged in foreign conflicts for over two decades. The strains that these deployments, the associated increases in operational tempo, and the general challenges of military life affect not only service members but also the people who depend on them and who support them as they support the nation â€" their families. Family members provide support to service members while they serve or when they have difficulties; family problems can interfere with the ability of service members to deploy or remain in theater; and family members are central influences on whether members continue to serve. In addition, rising family diversity and complexity will likely increase the difficulty of creating military policies, programs and practices that adequately support families in the performance of military duties. Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society examines the challenges and opportunities facing military families and what is known about effective strategies for supporting and protecting military children and families, as well as lessons to be learned from these experiences. This report offers recommendations regarding what is needed to strengthen the support system for military families.

In her previous book, Within Our Reach, renowned Harvard social analyst Lisbeth Schorr examined pilot social programs that were successful in helping disadvantaged youth and families. But as those cutting-edge programs were expanded, the very qualities that had made them initially successful were jettisoned, and less than half of them ultimately survived. As a result, these groundbreaking programs never made a dent on the national or statewide level. Lisbeth Schorr has spent the past seven years researching and identifying large-scale programs across the country that are promising to reduce, on a community- or citywide level, child abuse, school failure, teenage pregnancy, and welfare dependence. From reformed social service agencies in Missouri, Michigan, and Los Angeles to "idiosyncratic" public schools in New York City, she shows how private and public bureaucracies are successfully nurturing programs that are flexible and responsive to the community, that have set clear, long-term goals, and that permit staff to exercise individual judgment in helping the disadvantaged. She shows how what works in small-scale pilot social programs can be adapted on a large scale to transform whole inner-city neighborhoods and reshape America. On the heels of the federal government's dismantling of welfare guarantees, Common Purpose offers a welcome antidote to our current sense of national despair, and concrete proof that America's social institutions can be made to work to assure that all the nation's children develop the tools to share in the American dream.

Years of program development and research have provided effective strategies for strengthening America's families to prevent delinquency. This guide has been written to help program planners, policy makers, and service providers determine the most effective family-focused and parenting intervention strategies for high-risk youth and families. It reviews what is known about the impact of family characteristics on the risk for delinquency as well as promising family interventions. Providers using the guide will be better able to choose or modify existing programs or create new interventions for high-risk youth.

Family Diversity and Family Policy describes the dimensions of diversity which characterize the contemporary American family and discusses the implications for public policy and associated intervention programs linked to this diversity. The authors contend that if the programs and policies available to support families are to be most useful, they need to reflect the diversity of the families they intend to help. Beginning with a discussion of the historical and contemporary context of the American family, Family Diversity and Family Policy focuses on child poverty and argues that this topic may be usefully studied within the context of developmental systems theory. This theory systematically links the development of individuals to variations in their physical and social ecology, and is used as a framework for discussing: Contemporary challenges faced by parents charged with rearing adolescents, and the familial and societal issues that arise when the adolescents being reared are parents themselves. Current policy issues that arise from welfare debates in the United States and from recently-enacted welfare reform legislation. The importance for our nation of developing a comprehensive national youth policy. The authors draw implications for the design, delivery, and evaluation of diversity-sensitive policies and programs for families and youth, and offer a vision of how to link scholars, policy makers, and community members in multi-professional and multi-institutional collaborations promoting the positive development of American families and youth. Family Diversity and Family Policy is relevant to scholars and policy makers interested in human development, particularly of children and adolescents. In addition, it should be essential reading for practitioners and policy makers in government, private industry, and public and private social service organizations.

Features the Strengthening Families Program - a family change programme that reflects research that indicates that the most effective interventions build parent, child and family skills.