A parental fitness assessment is a specialized psychological evaluation, typically ordered by a court, and used to assess the capacity of a parent to parent their children. Often times, this evaluation is ordered by a court as part of a termination of parental rights case or in the course of determining a parent’s ability to assume custody of their children in a custody dispute.

Similar to custody evaluations, parental fitness evaluations may include interviews with parents and children, psychological testing, observations, review of records (health, academic, etc.), and interviewing collateral contacts such as teachers, daycare providers or family physicians. Child protection laws try to reconcile the rights of parents to care for their children with the inherent interest of keeping a child safe.