Welfare reform is unavoidably related to children. The importance of considering children's well-being when governments change the rules of support for poor families cannot be overestimated. Findings in the welfare reform proposal contained in the "Contract with America," and elsewhere, are deeply disturbing because they seek to: deny benefits for teenage mothers, limit the time of welfare receipt to 5 years without guaranteeing a workfare slot after that period, and end the entitlement to public assistance by folding that program into a block grant. All of these proposals interact with the balanced budget amendment, which has the potential to cut spending on discretionary entitlement programs by 30 percent. Using the Foundation for Child Development as a case study shows how foundations have responded, and are now responding, to the welfare reform debate. The best solution is to commit to the hard, long-term enterprise of operating humane, individualized, serious welfare-to-work programs, and to try to be realistic about policies to make work pay. (WP)