This volume examines two-generation interventions as models that represent a new approach to assisting families in poverty. Five of the chapters examine current programs--their design, characteristics of participants, implementation issues, and in one case, evaluation outcomes. Other chapters offer a research and policy context for this intervention strategy, describe current evaluations, and suggest directions for further research. Chapter 1 provides the theoretical base by reviewing research on risk factors associated with poor developmental outcomes in children. Chapter 2 examines the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Chapter 3 examines the Avance Parent-Child Education Program. Chapter 4 reports on the early implementation of a comprehensive and highly structured program, New Chance, that serves young welfare-dependent women and their children. Two major Head Start initiatives, the Comprehensive Child Development Programs and the Head Start Family Service Centers, are described in chapter 5. Chapter 6 reports on a two-generation Head Start demonstration, Project Step-Up. Chapter 7 provides a review of research on previous welfare-to-work experiments as a context for considering the potential effectiveness of different types of adult job readiness services in two-generation programs. Chapter 8 considers differences in two-generation models from a child development perspective, focusing on the early childhood education, child care, and parent education components of the programs. Chapter 9 discusses current research on two-generation interventions, highlighting advances in design and methods found in these studies. Each chapter includes references. (AA)