Successful Programs and the Bureaucratic Dilemma: Current Deliberations.

In order to break the cycle of poverty for disadvantaged children and their families, action must be taken to redistribute income and other resources and improve services and institutions that serve the poor. Successful programs are the following: (1) comprehensive, flexible, and responsive; (2) staffed by workers who develop relationships of trust and respect with children and families; (3) capable of dealing with the child as part of a family and with the family as part of a neighborhood and community; (4) able to tailor their services to respond to the distinctive needs of those at greatest risk; (5) well-managed by individuals with identifiable skills and attitudes; and (6) based on common theoretical foundations that emphasize prevention, client outcomes, and long-term change and development. The major attributes of effective services are fundamentally at odds with the dominant ways that most large institution and systems are funded and the ways they are expected to assure accountability, quality, and equity. What may be needed is a new culture for human service systems for a "renewal of the public sector. "Strategies for wider implementation of effective programs would include financing, training, technical assistance, and expanding public understanding. The implications for society would be profound. (JB)