Papers in this collection result from an 18-month exploration of ways to reform services for children and families in big cities, a so-called "rolling seminar" searching for ways to provide supportive and nourishing communities for city children. Contributions to this collection include: (1) "Themes and Viewpoints" (Editors); (2) "Neighborhood-Based Strategies To Address Poverty-Related Social Problems: An Historical Perspective" (Robert Halpern); (3) "Effects of Neighborhoods on Families and Children: Implications for Services" (Claudia J. Coulton); (4) "Practitioners' Perspectives on Family and Child Services" (Peg Hess, Brenda G. McGowan, and Carol H. Meyer); (5) "Two Community Development Initiatives: New Community Corporation and the Urban Strategies Council" (William J. Linder and the Urban Strategies Council); (6) "The Community Base for New Service Delivery Strategies" (Harold A. Richman, Prudence Brown, and Sudhir Venkatesh); (7) "The Path of Most Resistance: Lessons Learned from New Futures" (Douglas Nelson); (8) "Getting beyond the Micro Gee Whiz: Can Innovative Service Change the Service System?" (William A. Morrill); (9) "Child Welfare Reform, Managed Care, and Community Reinvestment" (Fred H. Wulczyn); (10) "Urban Community Initiatives and Shifting Federal Policy: The Case of Empowerment Zones" (Ester Fuchs and J. Philip Thompson); (11) "On the Term Community: An Informal Contribution" (Anne C. Kubisch); (12) "Big-City Kids and Their Families: Integration of Research and Practice" (Jeanne Brooks-Gunn); and (13) "Concluding Notes." References follow each chapter. (Contains four figures and seven tables.) (SLD)