A collection of the Proceedings of a Society for Research in Child Development Round Table, held in 1993 by the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD).The intent of the round tables was "to help chart the course for child development research, health care, and public policy for the next ten years". The contributors believe the papers presented and the round table discussions, along with their broader distribution in this volume, do indeed offer useful insights and powerful guidance to researchers, policy makers, and practitioners and interventionists with a vast range of professional training.

Part One: Research Agenda 1. Toward an Understanding of the Effects of Poverty upon Children , 2. African American Infants: Contributions and Concerns 3. Hispanic Children and Their Families: On a Different Track from the Very Beginning 4. Literacy and Poverty: Intergenerational Issues within African American Families 5. Socioeconomic Status and Alcoholism: The Contextual Structure of Developmental Pathways to Addiction, Part Two: Health Care Agenda 6. Reducing Infant Mortality and Improving Birth Outcomes for Families of Poverty 7. Preventive Health and Developmental Care for Children: Relationships as a Primary Factor in Service Delivery with At Risk Populations 8. Relationship between Risk and Protective Factors, Developmental Outcome, and the Home Environment at Four Years of Age in Term and Preterm Infants 9. Accumulation of Environmental Risk and Child Mental Health Part Three: Public Policy Agenda 10. Setting Research Priorities for Poverty Children at Risk for Advance Outcomes 11. Poverty, Parenting, and Policy: Meeting the Support Needs of Poor Parents 12. Policies for Children: Social Obligation, Not Handout 13. Toward Enhancing Knowledge about, and Service to, America's Poor Children: Models and Methods for Integrating Research, Policy, and Programs in Child Development Research