Risk assessment as a practice method in child protective services.

This article offers an overview of the development of risk assessment and its purpose and goals, a summary of research on risk assessment to date, and suggestions regarding future research. This overview indicates that the use of risk assessment is a widespread phenomenon, with differing goals and purposes. Research on risk assessment confirms the lack of conceptual clarity and the difficulty of incorporating it into a child protective services system that emphasizes findings of abuse and/or neglect as the key to continuing involvement in the system.