The purpose of this guide is to assist child welfare program managers in the documentation of their program efforts by providing both a recommended process and format. Section I provides a general discussion of the documentation process as well as suggestions for how to document a program. Section II presents the recommended format to be used in the preparation of the documentation report. The Appendix provides a sample of the completed documentation of an adoption program. It is suggested that (1) the documentation effort can provide a useful assessment of where a program is, where it has been, and the directions it may follow; and (2) that the documentation process should be used for redefining and solidifying program goals' for evaluating strengths and weaknesses, and for initiating constructive communication among program staff. (Author/RH)