Linking Institutional Networks to Community and Kinship Systems (LINCKS) is a three year research and demonstration project undertaken by the Washington, D.C. Parent Child Center, Cardozo High School, and the American Institutes for Research to show how communities can work together to better develop their young parent families. The project's major objective is to demonstrate that support provided to a school age parent and his/her child can be increased by maximizing the use of formal and informal structures in urban neighborhoods. The target population consists primarily of black high school mothers, most of whom are from low income families. An evaluation of the project's first year is presented in this paper. Staffing and facilities, reorganization of services, enrollment procedures, and dissemination of information about LINCKS to the community are discussed. Two levels of project activities are described: (1) those involving direct interaction with program members, such as day care, educational workshops, and referral; and (2) those concerned with building and strengthening links among formal and informal support systems for adolescent parents and their children. It is concluded that though LINCKS has successfully recruited students, its services are underutilized and many are in need of refinement or complete overhaul. Some suggestions are offered for improving the project. (GC)