A national survey was conducted during the fall of 1988 to determine the extent to which state governments were actively involved in addressing family issues. Fortytwo of the 50 states responded. Five states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York) were particularly active in proposing family-oriented legislation and in establishing special task forces on the family. The variety of approaches to family policy should prove helpful to researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. Since the 1980 White House Conference on Families, there has been increasing interest in the overall health and well-being of the American family. This is reflected in the almost constant flow of research literature that not only outlines major demographic changes in the family, but also recommends particular policies designed to address specific needs of families. Cherlin (1989), Diamond (1983), Genovese (1984), Moynihan (1986), Moroney (1986), Noble and Sussman (1987), Peden and Glahe (1986), Steiner (1981), and Zimmerman (1988) have all made significant contributions to the field. However, both in terms of political initiatives taken and in the volume of family policy literature produced, the focus has been on the federal government and what it has or has not done for families. In spite of the fact that the states have a long history of involvement in family issues, including the regulation of marriage and divorce; the definition of parental authority and responsibility; the regulation of child support, custody, and adoption; and the creation and enforcement of tax laws that affect family economic status and behavior, the discussion on family policy remains primarily at the national level. With the exception of Wisensale (1989) and Zimmerman (1988; Zimmerman & Owens, 1989) state efforts have been largely ignored in the literature. Although it was the Carter Administration's White House Conference on Families that first drew national attention and raised expectations for a federally based family policy initiative, the Reagan Administration's philosophy of New Federalism shifted policymaking from the federal government to the states. It became clear that Washington would not act on a major scale with respect to national family policy and states would have to take the initiative in this area. Thus, a national survey on states' responses to this challenge was conducted in the fall of 1988. The primary purpose of the survey was to examine the extent to which state governments addressed family issues, either directly through legislation or indirectly through special commissions and task forces. The findings reported here should prove particularly useful to policymakers interested in legislative proposals and political strategies, to researchers looking at the impact of specific policies on the family unit, and to family life educators teaching skills and techniques associated with the policymaking process. Method