This article reports on the ยฎrst phase of one of several research projects commissioned by the Department of Health to study post-Children Act policy and practice. Its purpose was speciยฎcally to look at the relationship between children in need' and children in need of protection' because of concerns about neglect or emotional abuse. The research focuses on the families of 349 children under 8 years of age who were referred to three social services departments because of child protection concerns and 363 who were referred for a service but who did not, at least initially, arrive with a child protection' label. The study found that the initial assessment of the families of children referred because of concerns about emotional abuse and neglect tended to be low key and to concentrate on risks' rather than on the needs of the children. An opportunity was thus missed to dierentiate between those families who would be able to meet the needs of children without the provision of services and those in which the health and welfare of the children would be likely to deteriorate without further assessment and help. The early decisions by team leaders in respect of this group of families most often resulted in a low level of service provision. *