Parental Fitness, Dependency, & Bonding Evaluations

Our forensic team conducts Dependency evaluations including Parental Fitness and Bonding Evaluations to assess the capacity of parents to provide a safe and nurturing environment for their children. These evaluations include decisions related to child custody, visitation rights, and adoption proceedings.

Juvenile Dependency evaluations center around a child’s safety and welfare and situations of abuse, neglect, or hazardous living situation. 

A parental fitness evaluation may be ordered by the court if the other parent requests this and there is substantial evidence presented or if a child has been placed in foster care and the parent wants to regain custody. This evaluation includes both the parent and the child to assess whether or not a parent is able to meet the physical and emotional and needs of a child. 

A Bonding Evaluation determines how a child has bonded with their foster or birth parents and would determine if the child was removed from the placement, would their overall well being be improved, hindered, or unlikely to change?