Planning a child abuse referral system

The author describes a long-term planning process through which a public school system established a referral program to deal with cases of child abuse and neglect. The article examines the problems involved in such planning and outlines the policy and procedures that grew out of this particular effort. • Since 1962, when Kempe and his associates published the original article describing and labeling the battered child syndrome, school systems throughout the nation have been faced with the task of responding in some manner to the plight of the abused and neglected child. 1 Kempe's concern initially focused on se-verely injured children who, because of their age and the extent of their injuries, were rarely observed in the classroom. The problem became generalized however, and schools were seen as having a responsibility in recognizing and referring children who evidenced a much broader range of characteristics than those originally associated with the battered child syndrome. An avalanche of articles and books appeared, national statistics were accumulated, treatment programs were designed for the abused child and the abus-ing family, legislation was enacted, and organizations were formed to counter this threat to the healthy development of children. The purpose of this article is to place these rapid and wide-ranging developments into a conceptual framework by exploring some of the obstacles, inherent and otherwise, that seem to be associated with interagency planning generally and with efforts involving child abuse and neglect specifi