The paper focuses on England's Children Act of 1989 which is designed to provide the legal framework for relationships between children and their caregivers into the next century. The Act has five distinct themes: public and private law relating to children; consistent framework for regulating all forms of substitute care; regulation of parenting by defining parental power in terms of parental responsibility; limits and controls on state intervention in family life; and state support of children in need and their families. It is concluded that, despite a common legal framework, major differences exist in the provision of children's services nationally in England and that the implementation of legislation relating to children's services involves changes in attitude, local policy reformulation, and new service development. The parliamentary process involved in reforming child welfare legislation is described. 63 notes and references