ABSTRACT
This chapter describes an evaluation program being carried out at the Family, Infant and Preschool Program (FIPP) located in Morganton, North Carolina. The result has been a failure to understand how events both within and outside the family unit are related, and how they influence child, parent, and family functioning. FIPP integrates and synthesizes theoretical formulations and empirical evidence from a number of social systems models, including social network theory, human ecology, help-seeking theory, and adaptational theory. Social support includes the "emotional, psychological, physical, informational, instrumental, and material assistance provided to others to either maintain well-being or promote adaptations to different life events". The role that social support plays in affecting other aspects of parent, family, and child functioning was the focus of a recently completed study. The Proactive Empowerment through Partnership approach to early intervention has one major implication for conducting and assessing the effects of all types of interventions.
