In order to create a new normative system, there must be societal and professional advances. Our society must make a commitment to make family support accessible and available on a voluntary basis to all families. The public must pledge durable, consistent fiscal support to the system. Such support must be accompanied by a mandate to honor the diversity of all families, and family support must be seen as an essential tool to build inclusive communities. On the professional side, family support must clarify its vision of the normative system and must define the roles of responsible parties, including government and the private sector.
Conceptual work is needed to better define the outcomes associated with the normative system.
Professional standards and the associated knowledge base need to be developed. A normative system of family support is a long way off. Yet, given the state of American families, the growing recognition of the importance of family support, and its rapid trajectory from a set of unconnected programs, we see family support as a viable strategy for human service delivery. Different from eras past, the question at hand is not will family support survive. Family support and community development.