Collected in this working paper are summary descriptions of 17 innovative community action programs designed to prevent child abuse. These programs were developed by individuals, community groups, hospitals, and/or state chapters of the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, as well as by other groups and organizations. Located in different states, programs have used various approaches, focused on various populations, and attempted to reach different goals. Examples include (1) a parent education/support group for adolescent and inexperienced parents and parents-to-be; (2) a clearinghouse for information about services for handicapped and developmentally delayed children from birth to 3 years of age; (3) a support group for young adults who have been abused; (4) a program and film to help upper-elementary latchkey children and their parents improve self-care situations; (4) a project providing parenting education and support for single teenage parents; (5) a 30-minute drama (available as a live production or on videotape) for elementary school children, designed to increase their awareness of different kinds of touching, including sexual assault; (6) a stress/crisis intervention program intended to prevent the development of abusive patterns of family interaction; (7) a parent education project using street theater performances directed toward "hard-to-reach" parent populations; (8) a perinatal attachment demonstration project for teenage first-time parents; and (9) a program for primary prevention of child abuse, implemented at the community level in a mobile home park. (RH)