The tremendous economic, cultural, and social changes that have taken place in the United States in the past 30 years have significantly altered family life. To meet the needs of families, communities and family structures have changed. For the past 10 years, the National Government has been redefining its role in relation to the family. While it is acknowledged that American families are in trouble, there is disagreement over ways to respond. In particular, controversy about a national family policy continues. Although the United States became interested in examining family policy under the Carter administration, the Reagan and Bush administrations have encouraged state and local governments to assume more responsibility for social services. In 1985, the Redlands Area United Way conducted a needs assessment of the community and found that child care was the number one problem of families in the area. The United Way created a task force of citizens and day care providers to examine the problem. Two years later, the city sponsored a long-range planning task force called Redlands 2000. Development of a family policy impact statement, which the task force recommended, has proven difficult. Goals formulated by the task force in the areas of human services, family policy, and community education are appended, as is a sample local child care policy. (RH)