This paper describes a strategy for the development of Parent-Child Development Centers (PCDCs) directly involving parents in preschool programs for children up to three years of age. The five-part strategy has been implemented through: (1) a proposal phase, for three comprehensive-program centers for low-income families and (2) a four-year model-development, implementation and evaluation phase, and is now in (3) a replication phase for programs in new sites. Remaining phases will provide for (4) external evaluation of programs and (5) overall assessment of results, prior to wider dissemination. The three original PCDCs are described. Birmingham and New Orleans programs, described briefly, are center-based, with children from 2-3 months to three years of age. The Houston PCDC is described in detail. Involving urban Mexican-American families, the two-year program begins at the age of one year with home-based mother and family involvement. The second year, for two-year-olds, is center-based, with a bilingual staff. Common elements are seen in evaluations of all three centers. (Approximately 80 to 100 experimental subjects and comparable numbers of controls are involved for each center.) At the end of a program, significant intellectual differences were found, with program children ahead of controls in general intelligence, language development and conceptual usage. Significant evaluation results have been obtained with mothers, their behavior meeting desired goals in all three centers. Houston program mothers, compared with controls, showed more positive behavior and obtained higher scores related to the home as a learning environment. (BF)