Book Description
Mission Statement: This book investigates issues surrounding the creation of social policy and support systems for children and families in this emerging democracy. Approaches advocated by progressively oriented Lithuanian educators, mental health and human service professionals toward addressing these conditions are presented by Lithuanian and American educators and mental health practitioners who have been working toward the development of democratically based social institutions. CONTENTS: Introduction. The Emerging Democracy of Lithuania: A Society in Transition and Its Children. Dennis J. Ritchie and Judy W. Kugelmass. The American Professional Partnership for Lithuanian Education (A.P.P.L.E.): A Model for Successful Partnership and Action Research as a Vehicle for Educational Change. Emilija Sakadolskis. Changing the System of Services for Children At Risk: The Lithuanian Experience. Dainius Puras. Education in Post-Soviet Lithuania and the Inclusion of Children with Special Educational Needs. Judy W. Kugelmass and Alvyra Galkiene. Social Work in Lithuania: The Emergence of a New Profession and Its Entry into the Education System. Dennis J. Ritchie. Children’s Policy and Children’s Rights. Dalë Kabašinskaitë. First Things First: The Orphans of Alanta. Wendell Mayo. Contributing Authors’ Biographies.

About the Author
Judy W. Kugelmass is Associate Professor in the Division of Education, School of Education and Human Development at Binghamton University, State University of New York. She has been a teacher, psychologist, and administrator of programs for young children with special educational needs. Her research and writing focuses on the development of inclusive schools. Two forthcoming books, Curriculum and Instruction for All Learners (Paul H. Brookes) and I Couldn’t Teach Anywhere Else (Teachers College Press) examine the creation of inclusive school cultures. Dr. Kugelmass’s international experiences include developing and teaching courses for higher education faculty in several eastern European countries; a fellowship from the World Rehabilitation Fund for research in Indonesia; Fulbright awards for teaching and research in Portugal, Indonesia, and Singapore; and an International Research Associateship from the National College for Educational Leadership at the University of Nottingham (UK). Dennis J. Ritchie is the Elisabeth Shirley Enochs Professor and Director of the Center for Child Welfare in the Social Work Department at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. His formal education and professional practice experience bridge the fields of special education and social work. He has over the past decade been actively involved in international social work with a special interest in the linkage between social work and human rights. Dr. Ritchie’s international experiences include visiting professor appointments at the University of Costa Rica, Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania, and the National Autonomous University of Honduras as a Senior Fulbright Scholar. He currently serves as an International Commissioner for the Council on Social Work Education, on the advisory board of the Fulbright Senior Specialists Program, and as a founding member of the International Committee of the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors. His interests include the use of community-based participatory action research to promote social and economic development.

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