In order to evaluate the impact upon children and families of reported
child abuse and neglect and the subsequent interventions, the casenot
es of a random sample of substantiated cases (N = 151) dealt with by t
he South Australian child protection agency were searched. The goal wa
s to identify information concerning service delivery and changes for
family members in the ensuing six months. Results relevant to both of
these are presented and evaluated. An important corollary finding of t
his work was the absence of detailed information about outcome in the
casenotes. We argue that this absence of feedback to child protection
workers and policy-makers is likely to have detrimental effects on bot
h worker morale and the quality of the services provided.