The Family, Infant and Preschool Program (FIPP) is an outreach unit of Western Carolina Center located in Morganton, North Carolina. Using a needs-based, social support approach, it provides and mediates child- and family-level resources and services for approximately 300 families of handicapepd and at-risk children, 0-6 years old. The conceptual bases of the program's assessment and intervention procedures are family- and systems-oriented. Family-level needs and goals are identified and all intervention efforts are based on those needs. A social systems orientation is used to analyze the complex relationships among needs, resources, and support. Professional staff take on expanded roles as counselors/listeners, consultants, resources, enablers, mediators, catalysts/mobilizers, teachers/therapists, and advocates. Project HAPPEN (Helping Agencies Promote Parent Empowerment through Networking) is a model-demonstration project which operationalizes the FIPP approach. A major goal of this project is the empowerment of parents of special needs children to identify their needs and resources independently as they prepare for a transition phase of service delivery for their child. Project HAPPEN's major components include, among others, involvement in interagency networking, assessment of child and parent strengths and needs, assessment of the empowerment process, development of family action plans, and intervention. (JDD)