Families are resources not only for their own family members, but also for other families in their neighborhood and community. To ensure the healthy development of children in a community, professionals from family support programs and families must work in partnership to strengthen their neighborhood support system. Agency staff must welcome and encourage participation from family members in their decision making processes and help connect families in culturally and linguistically proficient way, inclusive of special needs.

Violent crime exposure classification and adverse birth outcomes: a geographically-defined cohort study (2006)
The measurement of neighborhood effects on health has generally been imprecise, in part due to conceptual and methodological limitations. Using geocoded crime report data, this research sought to contribute to the neighborhood effects literature by testing various spatial and area-level violent crime exposure categorizations and assessing their association with adverse birth outcomes.
Violent crime exposure classification and adverse birth outcomes » (pdf, 329 KB)

United Way Silicon Valley Santa Clara County Trends and Needs Report (2005)
The United Way Silicon Valley (UWSV) Trends and Needs Report will provide an updated analysis of demographic trends, economic trends, and health and human services needs. The last Needs Assessment Report produced by UWSV was published in1997. The purpose of this updated report is to better inform UWSV and other health and human service delivery in Santa Clara County.
http://www.uwsv.org/index.php?id=35&sub=19

Compendium of School Readiness Resources (2004)
A list of references to research studies and practical resources in the areas of early care and education, family/parenting support, health and social services, school capacity, and program infrastructure, administration, and evaluation.
Disabilities Compendium » (pdf, 168 KB)

A National Study of Neighborhood Safety, Outdoor Play, Television Viewing, and Obesity in Preschool Children (2004)
Unsafe neighborhoods are 1 factor that has been thought to increase obesity risk in younger children by limiting their outdoor play and increasing sedentary indoor activity, such as television (TV) viewing. National governments in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada have proposed action plans to reduce obesity that include providing safe places for children to be physically active.
National Study of Neighborhood Safety Report » (pdf, 249 KB)

Compendium of “Ready Schools” Resources (2004)
A list of references to research studies and resources on enhancing schools’ capacity to transition children into Kindergarten.
Compendium of Ready School Resources » (pdf, 17 KB)

Collaboration: The Essential Element of School Readiness Efforts (2004)
A list of references to research studies and practical resources regarding neighborhood and community collaboration to enhance school readiness efforts.
Compendium of Resources for Collaboration » (pdf, 189 KB)

Transition to School - Compendium of Resources (2004)
A list of articles, reports, and websites that address issues regarding the transition of young children to school.
Transition to School Resources » (pdf, 197 KB)

Experiences of Racism Among African American Parents and the Mental Health of Their Preschool-Aged Children (2004)
Parents who denied experiences of racism also reported higher rates of behavior problems among their preschool-aged children. For families living in neighborhoods characterized by fear of victimization, parents who actively coped with racism experiences by confronting the person involved or taking some sort of action in response to racism reported lower rates of anxiety and depression for their preschool-aged children. Experiences of and responses to racism among African American parents have important effects on the well-being of their young children.
Experiences of Racism Among African American Parents and the Mental Health of Their Preschool-Aged Children » (pdf, 125 KB)

Neighborhood Support and the Birth Weight of Urban Infants (2003)
The current analysis draws on and contributes to previous literature demonstrating an association between neighborhood-level social processes and health outcomes. While prior investigations have examined sociodemographic, compositional, and other structural features of neighborhoods, this is the first known to examine such perceived social processes at the neighborhood level in relation to birth outcomes.
Birth Weigh of Urban Infants » (pdf, 97 KB)

Moving to Opportunity: an Experimental Study of Neighborhood Effects on Mental Health (2003)
Parents who moved to low-poverty neighborhoods reported significantly less distress than parents who remained in high-poverty neighborhoods. Boys who moved to less poor neighborhoods reported significantly fewer anxious/depressive and dependency
problems than did boys who stayed in public housing.
Conclusions. This study provides experimental evidence of neighborhood income effects on mental health.

Moving to Opportunity: an Experimental Study of Neighborhood Effects on Mental Health (2003) » (pdf, 129 KB)

Housing and Health: Time Again for Public Health Action (2002)
Housing is an important determinant of health, and substandard housing is a major public health issue. Each year in the United States, 13.5 million nonfatal injuries occur in and around the home, 2,900 people die in house fires, and 2 million people make emergency room visits for asthma. One million young children in the United States have blood lead levels high enough to adversely affect their intelligence, behavior, and development. Two million Americans occupy homes with severe physical problems, and an additional 4.8 million live in homes with moderate
problems.
Housing and Health: Time Again for Public Health Action (2002) » (pdf, 192 KB)

The Relationship of Neighborhood Socioeconomic
Characteristics to Birthweight Among 5 Ethnic Groups in California (2001)
This study indicates that the nature of the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics and birthweights of infants
born to California residents varies greatly, depending on the ethnicity of the mother and the area-level characteristic considered. Among White women and US-born Latinas, the neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics we examined generally were unrelated to birthweight; among Asians and
Blacks, birthweight declined in a linear fashion
with lower neighborhood SES, as measured by higher unemployment levels.
The Relationship of Neighborhood Socialeconomic » (pdf, 124 KB)