Presents the results of a 1988 conference designed to develop and implement a consensus on how to improve child protective services. Offers specific recommendations and describes implementation plans being carried out by dozens of national organizations. (MDM)

Discusses the need for protection for social workers from charges of professional malpractice or violation of their clients' rights and recommends "good faith" immunity legislation. (HOD)

Cites shortcomings of existing centralized state systems for processing child protection case records. Diagnostic, monitoring and statistical functions of these registers are described as severely limited by inaccurate and incomplete reporting. Confidentiality of records, subjects' access to records and problems of verification are discussed. (BF)

Presents highlights from the Third International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect. The topic of child sexual abuse dominated the Congress; other topics included malnutrition, research problems, and concerns of Third World countries. Recommendations of the Congress are summarized.

Child advocates have succeeded in getting child abuse recognized as a serious social problem requiring governmental response. Ironically, this success now threatens the viability of child abuse programs: 65 percent of all reports are ultimately dismissed. This flood of unfounded reports violates parental rights and overwhelms the limited resources…

Summarizes what is known about child abuse, describes the overlap between poverty and child maltreatment, and presents a framework for understanding different levels of government intervention. It concludes with a proposal of an alternative to child protective intervention in poverty-related cases, offers a plan for implementation, and assesses…