This document provides a detailed synopsis of the book "Within Our Reach: Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage" (L. B. Schorr). Specific kinds of intervention programs can alter the stunting conditions in which many poor children are raised. It is not necessary to change everything in order to make a difference, and policymakers do not need to wait for more information. The magnitude of the human devastation being wrought is severe. Problems such as school dropout, teenage childbearing, and drug abuse interact and cluster in the lives of individuals who tend to live together in the same neighborhoods. A review of prevention programs finds that many can serve as the starting point for national, coordinated, public, and private efforts. Five outstanding programs are briefly described. Despite the current societal despair and the need to integrate knowledge with practice, a new national policy should be developed based on the following: (1) public acceptance of the possibility of early intervention; (2) public acceptance of intensive preventive care as a sound allocation of resources; (3) allocation of resources for large scale implementation of policies; (4) upgrading of the social value assigned to professional efforts aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty; and (5) commitment to long-term solutions. A list of 14 notes, and a list of recent Carnegie Corporation grants are included. (JB)