Following a demographic profile of Romania, including the infant mortality rate, the chapter presents a brief case study of the removal of a Romanian child from his home to an institution because of a single instance of his mother's misguided use of corporal punishment for a delinquent act. The chapter then traces the history of child protection services and factors that increased the risk of child abuse and neglect during the communist period under Nicolai Ceausescu (1967-89), as well as stages of change in child protection services after the fall of the communist regime. In discussing legal innovations, the authors note that until June 1997, the only child protection laws in effect were enacted in 1970. The 1970 laws proposed some regulations for protecting children, but did not provide for methods of investigating or reporting child abuse. Since 1989, the Romanian legal system has, step by step, adopted the basic international regulations that govern child welfare. There was a major change in the legal reform of Romania's child protection system in 1997 with the abolition of the old law and the adoption of two new child welfare laws. This chapter also has sections on Romania's treatment for child abuse within the health system, the prevalence of child abuse and neglect, child abuse and neglect within the social system and within the family, an analysis of the legal framework for child welfare, and media coverage of child protection issues. 49 references