This paper discusses home visiting programs for low income parents and infants and describes five such programs known collectively as the Child Survival/Fair Start (CS/FS) projects, funded by the Ford Foundation. It describes a conceptual model which links risk factors and intervention activities to effects on mothers and children and explains how interpersonal intervention through home visits sets out to change maternal behaviors--use of available health care, habits of self-care and nutrition, and skill and sensitivity as a parent--and thereby improve child health and development outcomes. Basic elements of a home visiting program are discussed, including education to provide information, advice, and role-modeling; practical assistance to increase the mother's access to services; and social support activities to increase her motivation to apply that knowledge. The five CS/FS programs served the following populations: migrant Mexican farmworkers in southernmost Florida; young Black mothers in rural Alabama; isolated families in Appalachia; recent Haitian immigrants in south-central Florida, and Mexican families in Austin, Texas. The ensuing discussion touches on three particularly important issues: (1) meshing, not competing, with the mother's existing support system; (2) providing support that creates self-confidence and not dependence; and (3) coping with the variability in program effectiveness that results from differences in the nature and evolution of supportive relationships. The paper concludes with an overview of the results of CS/FS program evaluations. Paper copies of presentation slides are included. (TE)