Interagency relationships have an important bearing upon the effectiveness with which public services are provided to disadvantaged populations. The present study examines interagency interactions and service delivery to the disadvantaged from both an empirical and a theoretical perspective. The findings may be helpful both in the formulation of strategies for improving the delivery of services and in the design of future, related studies. In this research, a four-agency network in nine counties in central Missouri was selected for an intensive study that could contribute to the growing body of knowledge regarding interagency relationships. Structured interviews (N = 177) with staff at all levels provided the source of data. The focus on a specific network as it functions at a specific point in time (1969) provides a rudimentary basis for understanding interagency functioning. Four variables critically affecting interagency relationships are claimed roles and functions, service methods and goals, attitudes toward other agencies, and the nature of work interaction. In general, it was argued that these variables tend to be "balanced". A pair of agencies, or a network, was considered equilibrated if these four variables were at relatively high levels. Forces external to an interagency network may cause unbalanced conditions so that one might observe, for example, a high level of work coordination in the presence of low domain consensus. (Author/JM)