Federal legislation has increased the emphasis on the delivery of a continuum of services from birth through school age for infants and toddlers who are at risk. The problem is who should be delivering services to the families of these children. This study attempts to view primarily the role of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in this process. To determine the ideal provision of services to families and infants at risk, a review of literature is presented indicating that support for families is needed during the infants' stay in the NICU, during transition to home, and after returning to home. In an attempt to describe the actual nonmedical services being provided to families in the NICU, all 94 NICUs in the state of California were surveyed. The survey results indicated that NICUs generally provided comprehensive services to families while the infant was in the hospital, less service to the family during the transition home, and very little support and follow-up after the infant returned home. Further studies can determine how community agencies and professionals can pick up where the NICU leaves off, thereby providing a continuum of services to families and infants at risk.
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