ABSTRACT
All systems of society must operate effectively together to make it possible for children to develop adequately. . . . All systems of society must operate together effectively if families are to establish and maintain a climate that supports the continuing growth and development of both children and adults. . . . What is needed is better policy-making that includes awareness of the needs of families as dynamic interaction units linked to all the social systems. These more powerful systems need to protect and support the family as a complex unit rather than demanding that families be strained and fragmented in an attempt to cope with an inadequately organized and only partially adequate society. These systems, moreover, . . . need to be updated, modified, and coordinated through enlightened public policies, planning, and programs if society and its families are to weather the stresses of the years ahead . . . And persons concerned about the well-being of society and its families need to add to their skills some knowledge of the public social policy processes so that they can affect the political and other governmental processes that both create public policy and put it into operation.
