The present invention is directed to a solid chelating resin consisting of a reactive hydrophobic backbone having pendent carbodithioic groups. Preferably the resin is a poly(dithiocarbamate) containing no tertiary nitrogen groups. The invention is also directed to a novel process for making a chelating resin involving a) reacting a nucleophilic compound with carbon disulfide in a suitable solvent, to form a carbodithioic acid, b) neutralizing the carbodithioic acid with a base to form a carbodithioic acid salt; and c) reacting said carbodithioic acid salt with a crosslinking reagent in a suitable solvent to form a solid chelating resin. The chelating resin is useful in removing metals and cationic compounds from effluent streams.