Established in 1992 on a pilot basis, the troop includes 30 mothers from MCIW. The project focuses on both mothers and daughters and offers traditional Girl Scout leadership and general adult development courses in an effort to improve parenting skills. With volunteer support and training, mothers are able to assume temporary responsibility for their daughters through Girl Scout troop activities. Daughters, who range in age from 5 to 17 years, join their mothers twice monthly for troop meetings. During these 2-hour sessions, mothers spend supervised group and individual time playing with their daughters, working on troop projects, and planning for future activities. The program also includes joint mother/daughter educational seminars featuring sessions on such family life issues as self-esteem, drug abuse, relationships, coping with family crises, the reproductive system, and teenage pregnancy prevention. On alternate weeks, daughters meet in the community, just like traditional troops, at sessions run by Girl Scout volunteers. Volunteers play an essential role in the MCIW program; the yearly operating budget for the pilot troop is only about $20,000. 7 references