This hearing was convened to discuss the Human Services Amendments of 1984 (H.R. 5145) which would extend the authorization for Head Start, Follow-Through, and the Community Services Block Grant Program (CSBG) and would establish the Child Care Information and Referral Services Act, as proposed in H.R. 2242. Testimony concerns (1) Head Start programs and functions; (2) recommendations for eliminating the CSBG and broadening the Social Services Block Grant; (3) issues related to the Rural Development Loan Fund; (4) inequities in Head Start funding across counties in 40 states; (5) reductions in Head Start programs; (6) the Indian and Migrants Program Division within the Head Start Bureau; and (7) recommendations for expanding programs covered by the resolution. Much supporting material and several articles are appended, including correspondence; an article describing the peer review of research grant applications at the National Institutes of Health; amendments to the Public Health Service Act; a review of selected practices in managing discretionary grants; a discussion of the measurement of poverty in the United States; the status of emergency food, energy, and shelter in 20 cities; new directions of Head Start research; and the nature and impact of poverty on United States citizens. (RH)