This manual, designed to increase citizen understanding of child advocacy, offers practical suggestions on how groups of citizens, civic clubs, and fraternal organizations can become advocates for children in a community. The booklet describes child advocacy, child service agency monitoring, and possible ways to improve community services for children. Six steps for systematic monitoring are outlined: (1) the identification of agencies currently providing services, (2) the selection of agencies for monitoring, (3) the identification of data to be collected, (4) the selection of data collecting techniques, (5) the determination of scope, and (6) the summarization of the data. It is suggested that regular monitoring by child advocacy groups will stimulate self-monitoring in agencies previously unconcerned with accountability. (CS)