The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect prepared the resource manual which may be used to orient agency staff members or representatives of the community at large; to increase the knowledge and skills of practicing professionals, support staff, and volunteer workers in inservice training sessions; and to develop participants' support staff, and volunteer workers in inservice training sessions; and to develop participants' skills as part of a preprofessional curriculum. Each resource unit is linked to the corresponding unit in the leader's manual. One unit includes papers introducing child abuse and neglect as an American concern and defining child abuse and neglect. Another unit contains papers on the physical and behavioral indicators of physical abuse, the characteristics of abusive families, and a case history. Additionally, papers on the definitions and indicators of child neglect precede four case histories involving neglect. Another unit includes papers on the emotional maltreatment of children and the indicators of such treatment. Other papers are concerned with the sexual abuse of children and guidelines for interviewing children. Also discussed are State child abuse and neglect reporting laws and procedures, the investigation process, case planning and referral, and the role of the courts in child abuse and neglect. A glossary of selected legal terms regarding child abuse cases is included along with a questionnaire concerning the local community planning of prevention programs. A final section contains a number of supplementary papers. For the leader's manual, see NCJ 73601.