Custody

Custody: The care, control, and maintenance of a child, which can be legally awarded by the court to an agency, in abuse and neglect cases, or to parents, in divorce, separation, and adoption proceedings. Child welfare departments retain legal custody and control over the major decisions for a child that is in foster care. Foster parents do not have legal custody of the children that are in their care.

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The definition of this term has been taken from the "Adoption Glossary," which contains definitions of a wide variety of words that relate to adoption and infertility. The entire Adoption Glossary is located at http://glossary.adoption.com.

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