Cities, Counties, Kids, and Families: The Essential Role of Local Government

Cities, Counties, Kids, and Families outlines a model for developing strategic policy for responding to children and family issues in local governments. It also discusses fifteen strategic roles that local government can play - most of which do not require direct funding, but depends upon the scarce resource of leadership. The book describes policy and analytical tools used by cities and counties, and makes a case for using these tools more strategically. It calls for strategic policy to respond to the four critical forces affecting children and family policy: families, race and culture, communities and neighborhoods, and regionalism. Finally, the book reviews policy in four critical areas affecting local governments: education and school readiness, substance abuse, youth development, and family support programs. It concludes with predictions of issues that will affect cities and counties in the future.