The basis for all Pastoral da Criança work is the family and the community. The dynamics of the process consists of training community leaders who live in the very community where they work, helping and encouraging family care towards the children. This approach has three primary types of information exchange which help strengthen solidarity.

•  Monthly visits by the leaders to the homes of each family participating in the program - a total of more than a million visits every month.
•  Weight Control Day, when each community gathers to weigh all their children. This day turns into a life celebration party - more than 32 thousand communities participate in the meetings every month, to weigh children and learn more about them.
•  Monthly meetings of leaders in the same community to regard and evaluate the work developed in the previous month in order to reinforce the addition of efforts to overcome the difficulties.

          In all participating communities several actions take place, from the survival and total development of the child to the improvement of life quality for poor families, on both the material and spiritual sides. Thus, the Pastoral da Criança foster equal opportunities, peace and justice. Some of the most remarkable programs of Pastoral da Criança are:

1	Support to pregnant women
	General guidance and nutritional supervision for future mothers, placing value on life from the beginning of the pregnancy, preparing mothers for breast-feeding and guiding them to attend antenatal medical consultations;
2	Breast-feeding incentive - a school of love and peace
	Programs that will ensure the children physical, psychological and emotional skills for a proper development;
3	Nutritional surveillance
	Each child participating in the program is weighed monthly; the parents receive information and guidance on nutritional care and how to keep record of the weight and the growth of their children;
4	Enriched nourishment
	A program that teaches participants how to use high nutritional and low cost products, and how to cook with leaves, peels and seeds that are usually discarded;
5	Diarrhea control
	A program for diarrhea prevention and practices for oral hydration, mainly through the use of "home-made oral re-hydration salts", which is prepared with a measuring spoon that is handed free;
6	Control of respiratory illnesses
	Prevention of such diseases - especially pneumonia, tracking risky environments, giving access to public health services, and home assistance to children under medical treatment;
7	Home remedies
	Training mothers and families in the use of home and natural medicine, traditionally used by grandmothers;
8	Guidance to pregnant women and mothers to vaccinate their children and themselves
	Encourage families to participate in the vaccination campaigns, to prevent infectious diseases through vaccination and community organization, facilitating access to free vaccination outlets;
9	Basic education
	Guidance to parents, families and communities regarding their roles in the total development of the children, from antenatal to postnatal care up to six years of age, with special focus on walk, speech and playing skills. Community "brinquedotecas" (toy libraries) are implemented as a space for the kids to play and where cultural values of attentiveness, freedom and care - necessary to child development - are promoted;
10	Prevention of accidents at home
	Training of communities and families to identify the dangers children are exposed to, helping prevent the most common accidents during childhood; and due to the preparations of the International Year of Peace - promoted by UNESCO in 2000,
11	Prevention of family violence against children in the family environment
	Practical actions to prevent violence at home and to educate for peace are part of the Pastoral da Criança regular activities since its start. In 1999, however, working together with hundreds of organizations from all over the world in the campaign "A life without violence is a right of ours" promoted ny the UN, the entity launched its campaign "A Paz Começa em Casa" (Peace starts at home). The project spread out through over 32 thousand communities all over the country. The campaign emphasized intra-family relationships and the promotion of self-esteem. The coordination teams at Pastoral visited mayors, governors, the President of Brazil and other public and social personalities, taking proposals for the building of a Peace culture. Besides, uncountable numbers of public manifests were articulated together with schools, community associations and other organizations. More than 4.5 million leaflets with the "10 Commandments for Familiar Peace" were handed in the communities assisted by the Pastoral da Criança. In others neighborhoods, articulated activities under the same theme were organized. The solidarity network, comprising more than 153 thousand volunteers, brought the subject of building a Peace culture as a challenge for the whole country.
12	Prevention of sexually transmitted diseases
	Prevention of STD (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) - particularly AIDS - within the families participating in the programs of the Pastoral da Criança and together with other private entities; spreading solidarity programs for groups and individuals bearing such diseases;
13	Oral health care
	Training and guidance for mothers concerning concepts and practices for oral hygiene and the prevention of cavities in babies.
14	Catechesis from the mother's womb until six years of age
	Practice of living and developing spirituality for life praising and human dignity in the family and in the community;