From the Editor
Janet Hagen, Ph.D.
Welcome to the Fall/Winter 2007 edition of Human Services Today.  I think we have a great edition for you with two articles, an invited paper and our usual departments. This issue will premier Leadership Spotlight to highlight leadership issues faced by many of us in our professional life.

In No Grandchildren Left Behind:  Educational Issues Faced by Grandparents, Dr. Josephine Norward and Dr. Carol Williams from the Department of Social Work at Kean University address important perspectives on a couple of fronts:  no child left behind legislation and the increasing number of children who are raised by grandparents.  This article makes that case that significant consideration of the issue must be made by legislators.

Dr. Amanda Coleman Mason from the Department of Human Services and Professional Leadership at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and Dr. Paula Lampely, from United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS) in Milwaukee Wisconsin, also address legislative and educational issues in their article Building Self-Efficacy and Higher Education Programming For Welfare Leavers.  This article reports on an innovative program, based on a solid theoretical and practical base, provides for onsite educational opportunities at UMOS, the state’s largest workforce development agency.

We are delighted to have a paper written by John Daniel Bakibinga Ibembe and delivered at the Seminar on Globalization:  Africa’s Experience in Uganda. Dr. Ibembe is a Professor of Development Studies at Busoga University.  His paper addresses one Millennium Development Goal – universal primary education – and explores the role of nongovernmental and governmental agencies toward meeting that goal.

 In the Field usually focuses on a particular agency.  In this issue, the focus has shifted a bit to a case study written by Dr. James Greenstone.  His law enforcement case study about a hostage negotiation has applicability for negotiation in other areas of Human Services.

Web Resource Spotlight, researched and written by Dr. Susan Cramer reports on google docs.  This is excellent, user-friendly resource for students and professionals who collaborate in the development of a document, spreadsheet, or presentation.

In the premier of Leadership Challenges, Dr. Janet Hagen reports on a phenomenon that drains energy and direction from an organization:  Chasin’ Chickens.