This guide is a complete working treatment of child welfare and dependency practice for parents, relatives, caseworkers, and counsel on every side. Part I covers how cases begin — mandated reporting, the low reporting threshold, screening, and the differential response systems that determine whether a report becomes an investigation. Part II works the Fourth Amendment questions at the door, the consent analysis, child interviews, and the exigency standard for removal without an order. Part III covers the emergency hearing and the three arguments that matter there: reasonable efforts, relative placement, and a specific alternative to removal. Part IV covers adjudication and the case plan, which is where cases are actually won and lost. Part V covers the federal permanency timelines and the fifteen-of-twenty-two rule that creates pressure toward termination. Part VI covers termination and the constitutional floor from Stanley through Santosky and M.L.B. Part VII covers the heightened protections of the Indian Child Welfare Act after Haaland v. Brackeen. Parts VIII through XI cover reunification and its alternatives, the central registry consequence that reaches the most families, the people in the courtroom, and a stage-by-stage verification list.