This book makes extensive use of photographs to document successful community-based family support programs that enable families and their children to overcome cycles of poverty, drugs, and violence. The book begins with an essay by Roger Rosenblatt discussing the history of childhood in America and the growth of community-based programs; the essay also describes a model community-based program in a poor urban neighborhood. The second essay, by author and photographer Stephen Shames, discusses characteristics common to successful programs teaching living skills in a framework that emphasizes personal responsibility and values. The remaining chapters describe and document the following programs: (1) Avance Family Support and Education Program (Texas); (2) Casey County Family Resource and Youth Services Centers (Kentucky); (3) community development programs in New Mexico, New York, District of Columbia, and Michigan; (4) school-community partnerships in Kentucky, Colorado, Illinois, California, and Tennessee; (5) youth development programs in California and Maine; (6) Friends of the Children (Oregon); and (7) Parents and Children Together (Hawaii). Also included is a statement from the Chicago Bulls on their commitment to community centers for the whole family. The book concludes with a list of programs and acknowledgments. (KB)