This joint hearing before the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources and the House Committee on Education and Labor focused on educationally and economically disadvantaged children. Of special concern were children living in poverty, those from single parent families, and those whose parents are teenagers. Educational programs are needed to help these children break the cycle of failure and dependency. Input is especially needed from the business community, which can provide training, employment skills, and jobs. Testimony was heard from witnesses representing child advocacy agencies and businesses, and from government officials. Their remarks included the following: (1) the School Improvement Act of 1987 will help to address these problems; (2) adequate funding for anti-poverty programs is needed; (3) programs which teach parenting skills have been successful; (4) parents' health as well as the childrens' health must be preserved; and (5) children must be targeted early to aid their pre-school development. Several successful and promising programs were described and the potential replication of these models was discussed. (VM)