Interorganizational Relations and the At-Risk Family.

Overview & Synopsis

This document reports findings of research on the placement of family support and education programs in community education. The research was conducted in Minnesota and 12 other sites across the United States. Working definitions of family support and education and the range of services that family support and education programs offer are presented. Family support and education commonly consist of an ecological approach to human development, formal and informal support for parents, opportunities for parents to learn about children's development, and emphasis on prevention and family maintenance. Types of linkages that program staff establish in order to involve a cross section of families in their communities are discussed. The benefits of basing family support and education in the public schools, and specifically, in community education, are summarized. These benefits include program stability, compatibility of philosophy and goals, access to a widely dispersed service delivery network, strengthened local community education programs and school programs, efficient use of school and community resources, and diversity of staffing arrangements. Among several figures included in the report are two that list factors that facilitate and inhibit voluntary cooperation or collaboration. (RH)