The study was conducted in Allegheny County, PA., (which includes Pittsburgh) between October 1986 and December 1989. Of the 345 families contacted after referral for child neglect, 182 agreed to an intake interview. Thirty-six of these families were new, confirmed cases; 55 were chronically neglecting cases; and 91 were unconfirmed cases. The study found overwhelming evidence that extreme poverty is associated with child neglect, especially chronic neglect. Thus, policy initiatives may well be more effective in ameliorating neglect than interventions with individual families. Policymakers should increase income supports for poor families, increase educational and vocational opportunities and low-skill jobs with adequate wages, provide affordable and flexible child care, increase the supply of adequate low-income housing and rent subsidies, bar discrimination in housing against large families, decrease drug trade and violence in urban neighborhoods, and increase attention to minority population needs. Human service agencies should provide comprehensive, in-home services; paraprofessional services that focus on the development of parenting skills; and individual and group counseling that addresses stress management and issues of grief and loss.