This guidebook presents the SAFERR (Screening and Assessment for Family Engagement, Retention, and Recovery) model for helping staff of public and private agencies respond to families affected by substance use disorders. The SAFERR model and this guidebook were developed by the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW), a training and technical assistance resource center established jointly by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect of the Administration for Children and Families. Both agencies are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NCSACW developed SAFERR in response to frequent requests fromagencies for a “tool” that caseworkers could use to screen parents for in order to make decisions about children’s safety. This guidebook isresearch findings and practical experience have established that no siof information caseworkers need to make difficult decisions about whhave identified an array of screening instruments and practice principmanagers of child welfare potential substance use disorders that tool, and more. Although ngle checklist yields the kind ether children are safe, they les that, if used appropriately, can provide timely information to guide those decisions. Moreover, if these instruments and practice principles are used collaboratively by child welfare and substance abuse treatment staff, they not only inform urgent decisions about child safety, but they also improve the way staff engage and retain families in services over time and they point to policy changes that make it easier for families and workers alike to succeed.