Parental Fitness

Parental fitness evaluations may be ordered by the Circuit Court in Child Protective Services or Youth Services cases. More than simply a traditional psychological evaluation, a competent parental fitness evaluation should consider collateral sources of information and the extent to which they confirm or disconfirm evaluee self-report. It should include measures targeted at problematic areas of parent-child interaction. Direct observation of parent-child interactions is often desirable, though not always possible. Collateral sources may also be utilized at times to assess the apparent quality of parent-child attachment. These evaluations focus upon parenting strengths and deficiencies, their causes, appropriate interventions, and the likelihood that the problems can be corrected. In DHHR cases, the focus of parental fitness evaluations is on the parent's capacity to achieve minimally adequate parenting and the best interests of the child.