The Child Welfare Act of 1980 requires judges to determine whether reasonable efforts have been made to enable children to remain safely at home before they are placed in foster care. The act also requires that reasonable efforts be made to reunite foster children with their biological parents. A notable omission from the act, however, is a definition of "reasonable efforts." In an attempt to define reasonable efforts, the guidelines are divided into three sections. The first two sections focus on the legal system and the third section deals with the social service system. Each section provides two kinds of information: 1) basic "black letter" guidelines for attorneys, judges, and social service agency personnel to use in determining whether reasonable efforts have been made to keep families together; and 2) explanatory information on each guideline, including citations of applicable case law, national standards, secondary reference materials, and policy considerations. A list of additional materials and resources to supplement the guidelines is included. An appendix contains a sample court order, sample findings of fact and conclusions of law, and a reasonable efforts checklist.