This review identifies the key influences on the form, function, and focus of interagency child-protection training, with attention to the relevance of past experience to the current environment. New developments that can be anticipated are also considered. The review notes that the link between interagency child-protection training and effective working relationships in practice received little attention by the British Government prior to the late 1980s. In 1988, the potential contribution of interagency training was recognized by the Department of Health through work commissioned for the exploration of its complexity and to produce relevant training materials. During the 1990s, the importance of interagency training was further recognized by the government in the provision of formal guidance. This heralded a period of uneven expansion and experimentation in approaches to interagency training that varied in scope and sophistication. Simultaneously, an understanding of the way interagency training might be used to facilitate interagency practice was promoted. The purposes of interagency training have developed to include the creation of a uniform understanding of the features of child-protection services, effective integration of various services to children and their families, improved communication among agencies, effective working relationships, and sound decisionmaking about prevention and intervention. 32 references