The first step in using nonadversarial negotiation to address issues in child abuse or neglect cases is to distinguish nonnegotiable issues from negotiable issues. Nonnegotiable issues are not permitting the abuse or neglect to continue and removing the child from the home for protection. Placement plans, visitation arrangements, and treatment interventions are usually negotiable within guidelines, as are the criteria and means for evaluating whether to return a child home or to discontinue protective supervision. The more parents are involved in a nonadversarial discussion of the issues over which they can and should have some influence, the more they are likely to cooperate in acting responsibly in the child's best interests. Mediation may also be applied in the voluntary or involuntary termination of parental rights. Procedures should be developed to encourage families who cannot care for their children to relinquish them voluntarily to adoptive or foster families. The article lists the conditions under which an outside mediator should be used in termination negotiations. Nine references are listed.