ABSTRACT
Fatimah and Hassan (not their real names) are an African-American couple in their late twenties. Both were in the advanced stages of H I V disease when I first met them. That was at my last place of employment where, as intake supervisor, I received a referral for placement of their newborn son. I was told that Fatimah had been sent from another state to the Philadelphia area to live in an AIDS hospice for women. She had apparently been in an unsafe living environment. She had a history of drug abuse, had been a victim of domestic violence, and had had her other children removed from her custody. There was concern expressed by the referring agency about her ability to raise her newborn baby so we placed the baby in foster care. A l l involved expressed a desire to act in "the best interests of the child." I was also immediately aware of and concerned about the amount of emotional pain that would prompt Fatimah to behave in the ways described.
