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EMPOWERMENT, CULTURAL SENSITIVITY and FAMILY SUPPORT Cochran, M. (1992). Parental empowerment: Development of a conceptual framework. Family Science Review, Vol. 5(1&2), 3-21. NOT ON WEB "Empowerment is an intentional, dynamic, ongoing process centered on the local community, involving mutual respect, critical reflection, caring, and group participation, through which people lacking an equal share of valued resources gain greater access to and control over those resources." This article discusses this evolving definition of empowerment built around three case examples, followed by a historical review of the roots of parental empowerment. The article concludes with a more extended overview of recent work and research in the empowerment arena. Dunst, C. (1995). Key Characteristics and Features of Community-based Family Support Programs. Chicago: The Family Resource Coalition of America. NOT ON WEB This guide is the second monograph in the "Guidelines for Effective Practice" series commissioned by the Best Practices Project of the Family Resource which meets the need for better definition and articulation of what constitutes best practice in family support programs. This guide describes the definition, key characteristics, and operational features of family support program practices and proposes a method of categorizing family support programs. The book is divided into three chapters. Chapter one deals with an operational definition of family support and proposes one way of differentiating family support programs from other types of human services programs. Chapter two describes the premises, principles, paradigms, and practices that increasingly are considered the key elements and characteristics of family support programs. Chapter three presents a catalog of program dimensions along which family support programs differ as well as a brief description of how common and diverse elements and dimensions can be blended to form a foundation for the domain of family support programs. An appendix is included that contains checklists for assessing family support program policies and practices. Fuligni, A.S., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003). Family Support Initiatives. In J. Brooks-Gunn, Fuligni, A.S., & Berlin, L.J.’s (Eds.) Early Child Development in the 21st Century (pp. 115-144). New York: Teachers College Press. CHAPTER IN BOOK This single-volume resource provides detailed information on current large-scale and longitudinal research studies focusing on early childhood development–the situations and experiences of young American children. Twenty-eight studies are profiled, addressing such issues as early childhood interventions for children in poverty, neighborhood characteristics and residence patterns of children and their families, the role of fathers in families, school readiness and the transition to school, and maternal employment issues, including child care and welfare reform. Features: •A logical, consistent organization for easy access to information, such as the ages of children studied, the main research questions being addressed, and major findings to date. •An informative introductory chapter that captures the history of thinking about early childhood intervention and the consistent findings that have come out of several decades of work. •Chapters that place the work within the current policy and research context, focusing on the importance of early development and the contexts in which development occurs. •A format accessible to policy analysts and researchers, helping both to understand how these studies fit into current policy debates and how these studies might be used to further the research on early childhood, especially with respect to disadvantaged children. Slaughter-Defoe, D.T. (1993). Home visiting with families in poverty: Introducing the concept of culture. The Future of Children, 3(3), 172-183. E-JOURNAL – PDF FORMAT Home visiting programs must be sensitive and responsive to the cultural ecology of their participants. The staff members of home visiting programs need to assess the cultural context of the program, establish a dialog with the client population regarding program goals, attend to the culture of the program staff, and consider alternative program formulas.