The Potential Reentry Opportunities in Business and Education (PROBE) counseling and referral system is intended to help single parents and displaced homemakers gain greater control over their own lives, careers, and futures. PROBE began in 1975 as a campus-based program at Pennsylvania State University and became community based in 1977. PROBE, which is based on the premise of counseling for empowerment, involves three steps. The rapport that is initially established between a PROBE counselor and an individual client is transferred first to bonding within a peer group. This trust in a peer group is eventually transformed into a belief in one's own decision-making capabilities (thus reflecting a passage of trust from supportive counseling to peer group to self). PROBE is designed to provide clients with access to accurate and current information about themselves and their options; the support and skills necessary to make positive decisions, formulate plans, and implement them; and progress at their own individual rates of transition and development. PROBE offers eclectic and pragmatic client-centered counseling and has devised an intensive job preparation program (in the form of job readiness groups) that covers interpersonal, work-related, and job search skills. For the past 10 years, PROBE has had a success rate of more than 85 percent. Besides its direct services, PROBE also has an active research component. (MN)