The purpose of this publication is to bring together selected references relating to children, youth and schools from the various California and related codes. The codes and sections are grouped by topics within each thematic chapter rather than listed in numerical order.

It is designed for ease ofreference and immediate availability. It is not intended to be a complete duplication of all existing codes and sections.

The format allows for new or amended laws to be added to the appropriate thematic chapter so that the user can make notes for personal use. "California Laws Relating to Minors", the "Red Book", is further designed and intended for use as a basic reference book in university level classes and as a handbook in the field for student services and child welfare and attendance workers and for the workers of various agencies and disciplineswhose major emphasis is on children and youth.

This publication, as much as possible, has been issue-centered for practical use. In order to provide the user with current information, a new edition is published each year following the close of the annual legislative session of the Legislature.

As we enter into our 56th year of service, we are fortunate to have continued access to a myriad of resources available to assist us in providing you, the user, with the best source of related juvenile laws. However, we continue to invite you to evaluate the content and format and to forwardsuggestions for improvement and to bring any mistakes or omissions to our attention.

Please note that in order to ensure that the size of the publication is manageable, especially with the continued addition of new laws each year, several sections were removed as they did not have a directconnection to minors but were included to serve as background information. .