Standard procedures for teaching child management skills to parents may be inadequate for disadvantaged populations. The Parent/Child Early Education Program was developed to serve parents at risk of child abuse. Parent and child variables were measured at pretest in 41 families referred to this program. A profile of the families revealed that, in general, these families were single-female-headed households living on welfare support. Parents had an unstimulating, noneducational home environment for childrearing, more negative than positive parent-child interactions, a significant number of problems reported on the Child Abuse Potential Inventory, and a significant number of affective symptoms based on the Beck Depression Inventory. Children were described by their mothers as showing below average levels of adaptive behavior. The most common form of dropouts were no-starts who failed to attend sessions following the pretest assessment period. A discriminant function analysis of pretest data was conducted to determine which factors were the best predictors of finishing treatment. The results suggest that parents who are more likely to follow through with this form of training report more distress at pretest and show a more balanced ratio of positive to negative interaction with their children. In response to these client characteristics, a format for parent training has evolved which is tailored to the compatibility of the therapist, the extent of training/knowledge covered, and the target problems to address. (NRB)