Significant legal scholarship has identified and examined issues and concerns related to legal representation for children, parents, and social service agencies in civil dependency cases in juvenile court; however, one critical aspect of child-protection procedures remains largely unexplored, namely, the role of the prosecuting attorney. Because actions by prosecuting attorneys may significantly influence the initiation, direction, and progress of both civil dependency cases and parallel criminal child abuse prosecutions, a detailed and comprehensive discussion of the prosecuting attorney's role in such cases is important in efforts to improve the child welfare system. The prosecuting attorney can potentially affect social services goals, the time spent by children and families in the child welfare system, and the specific objectives of each particular proceeding. Using State statutes, case law, legal and social sciences literature, and the responses of prosecuting attorneys, judges, agency attorneys, and other child welfare professionals to an exploratory survey, this article defines and assesses the role of the prosecuting attorney. The author thus provides a profile of the prosecutorial models used in various jurisdictions and discusses the issues and concerns that may accompany each structure. 2 tables, 2 figures, and 181 notes