Poverty jeopardizes child development, children are twice as likely to live in poverty as any other group of Americans, black and Hispanic children are more likely than white children to be poor, and child poverty is high in both urban and rural areas. Gunshot wounds represent the leading cause of death for teenagers. Fewer than half of all 17- year-olds have the academic skills needed to hold most entry-level jobs or to attend college. Families that need coordinated services frequently cannot obtain them due to lack of transportation and fragmented service provision by too many different social service agencies. State courts are overwhelmed by cases involving families and children, due in part to the rapid rise in child abuse and neglect and Federal legislation that burdens State courts without additional funding. Children often find themselves before courts with benefit of counsel. Those detained pending trial or confined following trial are frequently placed in overcrowded facilities that do not provide adequate education and health care. The ABA incorporates five broad themes in its recommended agenda to meet the legal needs of children: (1) the ABA should lead a national effort to recruit lawyers who will provide free legal assistance to children before they end up in the court system; (2) Federal, State, and local governments should enforce existing laws to assist families and children; (3) new legislation should be enacted to ensure that families with children have incomes sufficient to meet basic needs; (4) States should improve the justice system's ability to meet the needs of children; and (5) more resources should be devoted to preventive services before families need intervention. Appendixes list members of the ABA Working Group on the Unmet Legal Needs of Children and Their Families and contain a summary of ABA recommendations, ABA policy resolutions, Connecticut's guidelines for the removal and return of children, and child support guidelines. Endnotes, charts, and photographs