Results of the case study reveal that, first, current adoption policies in social work settings have been adopted in ways that address the failings of the past. Second, the case study illustrated that despite the vulnerability of getting swept up in demonizing returning, relinquishing parents, social workers can fairly assess the permanency needs of children while at the same time holding a compassionate consideration for the relinquishing parents. The authors point out that practitioners and social service recipients have invaluable knowledge about how to make the child protection system operate in a more compassionate and effective manner. Researchers and policy makers are urged to take this considerable knowledge into account when prescribing policies. The case involved the biological parents of seven children whom they had relinquished for adoption and their efforts to retain their eighth child upon her birth. Interviews were conducted with the biological parents, the primary access and assessment social worker, and her team leader. Following the removal of their first four small children, the couple’s fifth, sixth, and seventh children were each removed at birth with no new assessment being undertaken. During the eighth pregnancy, the couple moved to a different county in hopes of keeping their child. The couple made contact with a local social services agency to begin an assessment process prior to the birth. The authors outline the assessment process undertaken by the social worker and the way in which she worked that allowed her to combine rigor of inquiry with compassion for the parents. References