One must ask, then, how family members can be supported so that the
children of parents with AIDS can benefit from familial care. To answer that
question, support systems need to be designed using the cultural under-
pinnings of the families themselves. That means that there cannot be a
single "program" intervention, a panacea that is so frequently sought by
policymakers. Rather, as the authors adroitly point out, the strengths that
exist within the family's community, through religion, and from intrafamily
dynamics need, in each case, to be marshaled to respond to each individual
situation.

The authors have developed the case for major and dramatic changes in
public policy and in human service practice to ameliorate the tragedies
faced by tens of thousands of America's children. Policymakers and prac-
titioners should take heed.

Barbara Blum
President
Foundation for Child Development

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