Foster and adoptive parents are challenged by society to raise the child with extraordinary emotional and behavioral problems, the child marked by his past, the child whose future without help looks grim. In effect, we ask these parents to not only ‘raise Cain’ but to raise him better. “Raising Cain” offers a format and interventions to raise Cain better. If we ask foster and adoptive parents to raise society’s most jeopardized children, its abused and neglected youngsters, our system (legal, welfare and mental health) must better attend to the best interests of its children and of those who care for Cain (e.g. Beleaguered foster and adoptive parents).