Seven year old Joey Kane is made a ward of the state after the courts deem him to be neglected by his single mother. Despite his difficult home life, the transition into the home of the Goldings, his foster family, is a difficult one with Joey being withdrawn as he still misses his mother and doesn't understand that he will no longer belong to her. Miss Pat Spence with child aid services is in charge of Joey's case. In monitoring his case, Miss Spence feels that what's best for Joey is for him to be adopted, but finding a suitable family that wants to adopt an older child will not be an easy task. Conversely, she will have to be careful of gauging how Joey will react from being moved again from one home to another.