The Rural Opportunities Offer Tomorrow's Success (ROOTS) program is a series of policy initiatives which address problem areas in rural education, economic development, health care, and access to programs in Pennsylvania. Policy initiatives to create a better educated rural workforce include: (1) expanding career and financial counseling in rural school districts with low participation in higher education; (2) expanding teleteaching; and (3) developing recommendations for expanding 2-year degree offerings at rural educational institutions. Policy initiatives to help rural areas benefit from urban growth include: (1) training and supporting entrepreneurs of telelinked businesses; (2) encouraging residential-based economic development; and (3) expanding technical assistance to increase access of rural residents to existing housing programs. Policy initiatives to curtail present threats to the rural health care system include enrolling Pennsylvania in the National Health Service Corps State Loan Repayment Program and establishing special add-on Medicaid reimbursement funding for hospitals identified as critical rural health access points. Policy initiatives to increase rural access to state programs include: (1) forming an Intragovernmental Council for Program Coordination in rural areas; (2) analyzing legislation before it becomes law to determine its affect on rural citizens; (3) raising the current funding cap and expanding the current appropriation for the Community Facilities Program; (4) improving the utilization of university resources for rural development outreach; (5) encouraging the establishment of county economic development offices; and (6) providing financial incentives for local development districts to expand services to rural areas. (ALL)