NCJ Number
151326
Date Published
1991
Length
55 pages
Annotation
This manual identifies the reasons for and the steps in structuring interagency partnerships to connect children and families with comprehensive services.
Abstract
Part One examines the kind of prevention, treatment, and support services children and families need to succeed as students, parents, and workers and why the current service system so often fails them. It describes what high- quality, comprehensive services should include and focuses on interagency partnerships as the key to the large-scale delivery of such services. The monograph distinguishes between limited cooperative efforts and more intensive collaborative arrangements. Part Two uses an informal sampling of interagency initiatives to illustrate how five factors -- climate in which initiatives begin, processes used to build trust and handle conflict, the people involved, policies that support or inhibit their efforts, and availability of resources -- can affect local efforts. Data were collected from program materials and reports, evaluations, and telephone interviews. Part Three is a working tool for policymakers, administrators, and practitioners to use in their conversations about interagency partnerships. One section summarizes key points of successful collaboration. A list of questions assists practitioners in assessing their own agencies' need for partnerships. Appended program descriptions and contact information and a 56-item bibliography