• identify a caretaker's overall ability to appropriately care for children including objective measurement of the adult's parenting skills;
• evaluate interrelationships among each of the family members including the child(ren)'s perceptions and ratings of their parent/caretaker;
• provide specific recommendations regarding the referral questions while taking into concern the profound differences among various families; and
• address pertinent agency/court goals.

This assessment requires the participation of all immediate family members and others recognized as a significant part of the family's functioning. The assessment process takes approximately 3-6 hours, and is done in three phases: Interviewing, Structured Interaction, and Standardized Assessment. The process answers the following questions:

Can the parent/caretaker:

• stimulate the child's emotional and intellectual development and provide a safe environment?
• take pleasure in the child's development and form a positive attachment?
• respond appropriately to the child's regressive and infantile needs?
• empathize with the child's emotional state?
• recognize the child's stresses and help the child deal with them?
• maintain appropriate boundaries?
• allow the child to be autonomous?
• exhibit and encourage a sense of pleasure in shared activities?