This fact sheet begins with an overview of family support programs, which includes a discussion of the premises of family support programs and the assumptions on which they are based, and a list of typical program components. The remainder of the fact sheet focuses on one type of family support program, family literacy programs. These programs seek to improve the literacy of the educationally disadvantaged family through efforts based in the home, center, school, library, or workplace. Family literacy programs are intended to serve the needs and concerns of the family as a unit; contain an educational component which formally or informally affects the child's literacy or development; contain an educational component for the adult; include at least one activity emphasizing the exchange of information between parent and child; and are based on community needs and participant recommendations. Most programs have components with child- and parent-specific goals, but the feature which distinguishes family literacy programs from other literacy programs is their provision for joint adult and child activities, such as side-by-side reading, modeling of child development practices, and field trips. Brief descriptions of five model literacy programs (the Kenan Trust Family Literacy Model, Linking Home and School Through Workplace, Waterville Even Start, the American Library Association's Beginning with Books program, and Head Start's Parents' Reading Project) and five resource organizations are provided. (AC)