The Pyramid of Care is a proposed way of improving resources for children and families by:

	getting families the help they need sooner
	giving families choices in resources
	making it easier to locate needed resources in their community
	focusing resources on prevention and early intervention
	empowering families to build on their strengths
	eventually decreasing the need for crisis resources
	providing a tool to look at and make decisions about what resources are needed in our system

"In the ideal world there would be preventive resources readily available to meet families' needs before there is a crisis."