In the Toronto (Canada) area, Children's Aid Societies are responsible for the protection of children exposed to abuse or neglect. In certain cases, danger to children is so great that involuntary removal from parental custody and placement under the protection of the Province is sought through the jurisdiction of the family court. Once the child is taken into custody, the parents must make sufficient changes to justify the child's return home. If these changes are not forthcoming, the case continues through the family court system, with the child protection agency seeking permanent guardianship and the parents requesting that the child be returned to their custody. In a number of these contested child maltreatment cases, the judiciary seeks a mental health assessment from the family court clinic (FCC). This study reviewed clinical records of all cases assessed at the FCC, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, during the period 1985-90 that involved a dispute for legal custody between a maternal caretaker and the child protection agency under the Child and Family Services Act. Data were coded on an ordinal scale from least to most restrictive disposition for the parent. Spearman rho correlations were used to test agreement among the child protection legal position, FCC recommendation, and judicial disposition. Results show significant agreement among child welfare, mental health, and judicial systems regarding recommendations/dispositions for child custody in serious cases of child maltreatment. Hypotheses are suggested to explain these findings. 1 table and 17 references