The paper explores the relationship between 330 families' adaptations to their mentally retarded children and the manner in which parents plan for future residential and vocational opportunities. B. Farber's theory of minimal family adaptation is tested to see whether family characteristics (such as demographics and family career); child's characteristics (such as severity of the disability, sex, and age); and the family's involvement in informal and formal social networks affects parents' planning. A literature review applies the concepts of family career and individual life cycles to families with mentaly retarded children as they plan for future services. Forward stepwise regression analyses were performed on data gathered from a mail survey questionnaire of 330 parents of mentally retarded children from birth to 21 years old. In general, strong support was found for Farber's theory of minimal adaptation. The strongest predictors of parents' planning were family career, child's characteristics, and community support. Family demographics were found to be the least significant predictors. (Author)