The provision of respite care within families is a relatively new development and the ad hoc nature of individual schemes has resulted in a great variation in their character; relatively little research has been carried out into the policy and practice of this important development in community care. 'Share the Care' examines: the different ways in which respite care schemes operate, focusing in particular on the Share-the-Care service in Lothian; the experience of parents of children with learning difficulties of using the scheme; respite carers: who joins the scheme and why, their perceptions of its rewards and dissatisfactions, and their experience of social work support; the less positive effects of separation upon the children themselves; families facing an extended wait for respite; families who withdraw from the scheme.