ABSTRACT
As discussed in Chapter 1, the passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) affi rmed that child welfare agencies have a primary responsibility for assuring that children are safe from abuse and neglect (USDHHS, 2000). In this chapter we focus on the Child Protective Services Program, which is the fi rst program that children and families typically encounter when they become involved with child welfare service (CWS) agencies.
