The term risk assessment is used to define several different assessment and decisionmaking processes. Essentially, however, risk assessment is concerned with predicting whether a child will be maltreated. Goals of risk assessment focus on helping child protective service workers identify situations where children are vulnerable to abuse and neglect, improving the consistency of service delivery, and guiding administrators in their decisions on the relative priority of child protective service cases. Existing risk assessment systems include the matrix approach, the empirical predictors method, family assessment scales, an ecological approach known as the Child at Risk Field, and expert systems. Risk assessment research findings between 1987 and 1992 are summarized, as well as issues and priorities related to risk assessment as a practice method in child protective services. 85 references and 1 figure