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It is recommended that all medical professionals advise their patients that they should not drive while immobilised in an upper limb plaster cast.

Statewide implementation of a child safety assessment protocol by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in 1995 is assessed to determine its impact on near-term recurrence of child maltreatment. Literature on the use of risk and safety assessment as a decision-making tool supports the DCFS's approach. The literature on the use of recurrence as a summative measure for evaluation is described. Survival analysis is used with an administrative data set of 400,000 children reported to DCFS between October 1994 and November 1997. An ex-post facto design tests the hypothesis that the use of the protocol cannot be ruled out as an explanation for the observed decline in recurrence following implementation. Several alternative hypotheses are tested: change in use of protective custody, other concurrent changes in state policy, and the concurrent experience of other states. The impact of the protocol to reduce recurrence was not ruled out.

Involving families in decision making is especially challenging when children are removed on an involuntary and emergency basis. To encourage participation of families, legislation for child welfare enacted in Washington, DC extended the time before a first hearing from 24 to 72 hours so that a family team meeting could be held to develop a plan for presenting in court. This article reports the qualitative findings from an external evaluation of the District of Columbia's implementation of this legislation. Agency and community interviewees largely agreed that the program was carried out with fidelity to principles of family and community engagement, mobilized family group resources without jeopardizing parents' rights to legal counsel, and supported families to advocate for themselves. Considerable effort is required by professionals to collaborate around the principles of family engagement.

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