This book is intended to provide social services welfare professionals a comprehensive discussion from a multidisciplinary perspective of infants and preschool-age children in the child welfare system. Contributors to the book are specialists in the fields of pediatrics, psychology, child welfare, social policy, legal advocacy, speech-language pathology, physical therapy, theology, and early intervention. The book is divided into five sections, covering developmental and emotional concerns, medical concerns, advocating for children, prevention and early intervention, and training. Individual papers are: (1) "Starting Young: Improving Children's Outcomes" (Silver); (2) "Emotional Development and Disorders in Young Children in the Child Welfare System" (Morrison, Frank, Holland, and Kates); (3) "Feeding Disorders in Infants and Young Children" (Greis); (4) "Motor Development and Disorders in Young Children" (Orlin); (5) "Speech and Language Development of Young Children in the Child Welfare System" (Amster); (6) "Supporting the Spirituality of Children in Foster Care and Their Caregivers" (Weaver); (7) "Health Care for Young Children in Foster Care" (Silver, Haecker, and Forkey); (8) "Child Abuse and Neglect" (Christian); (9) "Child Abuse and Developmental Disabilities" (Jaudes and Shapiro); (10) "Children with Complex Health Care Needs and the Public Sector Child Welfare Agency" (Meyers, Alexander, Silver, and Vogel); (11) "Child Placement: Policies and Issues" (Mauro); (12) "On the Front Lines: Foster Parents' Experiences in Coordinating Services" (Ross and Crawford); (13) "Collaboration with the Child Advocate" (O'Grady and Birns); (14) "Family-Centered, Home-Based Prevention Strategies for Vulnerable Families of Young Children" (Marcenko); (15) "Emergency Child Care and Overnight Respite for Children from Birth to 5 Years of Age: Development of a Community-Based Crisis Nursery" (Andrews, Bishop, and Sussman); (16) "Early Intervention Services for Infants and Preschoolers in Foster Care" (Spiker and Silver); (17) "Early Intervention for Drug-Exposed Infants in Foster Care: The Infant Nursery Caregiver Education Parent Training Program" (Linares, Jones, Sheiber, and Rosenberg); (18) "Family School: Twenty Years as an Innovative Model Demonstration Project" (Peckham); (19) "Linking Services, Research, and Policy for Children in Foster Care: Lessons Learned at the Center for the Vulnerable Child" (Klee and Kronstadt); (20) "Ensuring Family and Community Life for Infants with Complex Health Care Needs: Intensive Early Intervention and Family Support" (Davis and Alimena-Caruso); (21) "Training Professionals to Work with Young Children with Developmental Disabilities" (Vig and Kaminer); and (22) "Foster Parent Training" (Zukoski). Each chapter contains references. (HTH)