Essentials of Child Welfare is an ideal resource for undergraduate and graduate students in social work and human services. The authors provide step-by-step guidelines for doing protective investigations, assessment, and case planning, and they provide techniques and processes for intervening successfully with children and their caretakers on problems ranging from attachment issues, learning disabilities, delinquency, and abuse to suicidal ideation, eating disorders, and addiction. Using the student-friendly Essentials format, the authors also describe how to navigate children successfully through foster care, adoption, reunification, or independent living, and the importance of cultural competence.