Although clinicians have recently come to view children of alcoholics as primary patients who deserve treatment in their own right, such youngsters have little access to appropriate services. Experts estimate that less than five percent of children of alcoholic parents receive the help they need. Recent research indicates that the younger the child during the period of alcoholic disturbance, the more severe the effects on the child. This paper describes: (1) characteristics and dynamics of alcoholic households; (2) characteristics of and risks to young children raised in alcoholic homes; (3) the role of public schools and teachers in interventions to meet the needs of such children; (4) problems in identifying children of alcoholics; (5) the developmental impact of parental alcoholism on adolescents; (6) characteristics of alcohol education programs; (7) key principles of psychoeducational programs for children of alcoholics; and (8) beneficial effects of early intervention. Thirty-one references are listed. (RH)