Involving caregivers in their children's services often is assumed to make the delivery of child-focused services more effective. We examined the relation of caregiver involvement in children's early intervention programs (EIPs) with caregiver-child interaction. Participants were 99 low-income single caregivers whose children ( 40 months old) were enrolled in EIPs that provided opportunities for caregiver involvement. The results confirmed that caregivers who were more engaged with the programs (as rated by program staff) were more likely to demonstrate more responsiveness in interactions with their children. However, the frequency of participation or number of different types of activities at the EIPs in which they engaged were not significantly related to caregiver-child interaction. Implications are discussed for enhancing supportive and collaborative relationships between caregivers and providers.

By focusing on the roles of family characteristics, stress, and a program's organizational climate, this study investigated why some low-income single caregivers with children with disabilities tend to be more involved in early intervention services than others. The participants in this research were low-income single caregivers whose young children were enrolled for the first time in early intervention programs with opportunities for caregiver involvement. The results indicated direct effects for family characteristics in predicting caregiver/program involvement. Relationships between family characteristics and caregiver/program involvement were also moderated by parenting stress and perceptions of a supportive program climate. Implications for family-centered practice are discussed.

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Through this study we compared different informants and different behavior screening tools that are available to screen for behavioral and emotional risk. We examined screening results from 100 students from a high school with a high achiever's magnet program in the Southeastern United States (school demographics: 71% female and 79% black, non-Hispanic). This school conducted behavior screening using both teacher-report via the Student Risk Screening Scale, Internalizing/Externalizing (SRSS-IE) and student report via the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Nonparametric correlation tests were conducted between the SRSS-IE and SDQ externalizing and internalizing scores. Generalized linear regression models were created based on the data (demographics, internalizing, and externalizing scores on both screening tools) to model the two count outcomes (office discipline referrals [ODRs] and absences). Diagnostic accuracy metrics were generated from the scores on both the SRSS-IE and SDQ with the outcome measures (ODRs and absences). Externalizing scores on both screening tools had statistically significant low correlations. The ODR model contained two predictors: externalizing score on the SRSS-IE and internalizing score on the SDQ, while the absence model contained grade and the externalizing score on the SDQ.The highest accuracy and agreement values were seen between students with elevated risks on both screening measures and ODRs. The results confirmed that teacher and student reporting, as well as different screening tools, will result in some different students being identified. The choice of informant and screening tools should be dependent on the needs and resources of the school. K E Y W O R D S internalizing and externalizing, school-based behavior screening, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Student Risk Screening Scale

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