The article covers three related areas in child abuse investigations: methods for gaining access to the child's residence and to other places where evidence regarding child abuse may be found; methods for gaining access to the child for an interview, for observation, or for lay or medical examination; and methods for obtaining records or other information relevant to the investigation. The article focuses on the time period prior to filing a child abuse petition or placing a child outside the home. In concluding that statutory reform is needed to facilitate investigations by child protection agencies, the article recommends that laws create remedies that permit social workers to enter a home to observe the child and investigate the circumstances of the child's care. Social workers should also be permitted to interview and obtain pertinent records from parents, caretakers, schools, physicians, and others with knowledge or information about the child and family. Also, State law should more clearly and completely specify the obligation of government agencies, private organizations, and members of the public to cooperate with child abuse investigations. 468 footnotes.