Sentence:  Further research in the meaning of crises as experienced by the consumers of traditional social casework services - including attempts to develop a typology of family structures , crisis problems , reaction mechanisms , and differential treatment approaches - and the establishment of new experimental programs <WSD>are</WSD> imperative social needs which should command the best efforts of caseworkers in collaboration with community planners . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)