The roundtables provide an annual forum for sharing developments in individual States and communities and the results of risk assessment research. Common themes characterizing the roundtables include risk assessment model development, purposes and use of risk assessment, cultural issues impacting risk assessment, implementation and utilization issues in risk assessment, and risk assessment research. Risk assessment models are frameworks for organizing information related to risk. These models encompass risk assessment factors, risk assessment forms, and procedures and calculations for determining risk. Risk assessment has always been part of child protection services and has also been used to structure decisionmaking in child abuse and neglect cases. In addition, risk assessment has increasingly been integrated into the service planning process in several States. Accommodating culture in the development, implementation, and interpretation of risk assessment has been a focus of several roundtables, recognizing that factors placing children at risk are not evenly distributed across racial and cultural lines. Implementation challenges related to risk assessment are discussed, and the need to validate risk assessment models through research is stressed. The use of risk assessment to articulate the needs of children and families is examined.