Discusses foster care with potential for adoption, describes eight legal categories identified as appropriate for foster care/adoption planning, and indicates aspects of cooperation between social work and legal personnel. Rights of biological parents, the importance of trust among parties concerned, and misuses and pitfalls of the foster…

Discusses two concerns regarding adverse effects of increased litigation in child protection cases: (1) fallout from the adversarial process on agencies' work with families; and (2) dissonance between the approaches of social workers and lawyers to decision-making about families. Recommends mediation to prevent less serious cases from going to…

Discusses the "Children Can't Wait" project, aimed at improving child welfare practice through improvements in attorney-social worker relationships. Describes seminars held to facilitate the project's goals. Identifies two ways to improve such relationships: multidisciplinary training and interagency collaboration. Attributes the success…

Discusses legal and psychological issues affecting newly married couples and their children by former marriages. Topics include discipline, premarital contracts, legal rights, personal relationships, and complications posed for the new marriage by settlements agreed to in the divorce. (DB)

Examines results of a four-county Indiana survey in which approximately 90% of attorneys and public agency caseworkers involved in court actions on child abuse cases revealed considerable conflict over each other's role. Suggests ways to clarify roles and ameliorate similar problems in other localities. (RWB)

A study compared the Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) lay-volunteer program and the staff attorney model in a large midwestern city. Results indicate that CASA volunteers performed at least as well as specialized attorneys in representing children in juvenile court. (BG)