Parental Rights & Disabilities
Despite the Americans with Disabilities Act (1992), we are still seeing discrimination in the area of parental rights due to disabilities. Parents with disabilities find their rights taken away on account of their disability, while parents of children with disabilities find their rights questioned.
We have designed this page to provide news, information, and resources for families.
35 states include disability as grounds for termination of parental rights; 2/3 of dependency statutes allow the court to determine that a parent is unfit on the basis of a disability; and D.C. and 9 states (GA, KS, MD, MS, ND, NM, OH, OK, & SC) allow physical disability as the sole grounds for terminating parental rights, even without evidence of abuse or neglect [1]. Further, the shameful eugenics-era Buck v. Bell decision[2] remains the precedent for removing family privacy rights, including parental rights, from persons with disabilities.
News Stories - Parental Rights & Parents with Disabilities
Note: Parental Rights Foundations does not necessarily agree with all views expressed in these articles. They are provided here to give a glimpse into what is happening in the news.
- Parenting with Multiple Sclerosis - This article on parenting with MS gives us a glimpse into how challenging parenting with a disability can be. Parents with disabilities deserve our support; yet sadly, they often receive criticism or even find their parental rights questioned or taken away.
- Have a Low IQ? The Government Can Take Your Child - Imagine losing your child because state officials don't think you have a high enough IQ. This article reports that happening to one Oregon couple. The couple was finally reunited with one of their sons in December 2017, but, as of early 2018, the other remains in state care.
- For Parents Around the Country, Having a Disability Can Mean Losing Custody of Their Kids - This article shares the sad bias that often results in parents with a disability losing their children, along with some legislative action that's in progress to help.
No one should have to worry that their disability will be used adversely to separate them from parenting their children. - Heather Watkins
- Parents with Disabilities Face an Uphill Battle to Keep Their Children
Research indicates that parents with disabilities and their families are overrepresented in the child welfare system. While parents with disabilities make up only 6.2 percent of all parents in the United States, a recent study found that 19 percent of children in foster care have a parent with a disability.
- The Insulting Childbirth Experiences Mothers With Disabilities Endure - Experiences like those expressed in this article are why the Parental Rights Foundation supports the adoption of policies or laws to specifically protect parents with disabilities.
- Disabled Parents Losing Right to Parent their Own Children in America while Foster Parent Recruitment Seeks “Imperfect Parents”
Sometimes, their disability is the sole reason for their children being taken from them. What is worse is that they are less likely to get their children back once the state takes them. All of this violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Report by the National Council on Disability
The National Council on Disability’s 2012 Report, Rocking the Cradle, points out a number of issues of discrimination that parents with disabilities or parents of children with disabilities must face far too often. The rate at which their decisions are second-guessed and their parental rights threatened is unconscionable. You may not have time to read the full 445-page report, but the Executive Summary (starting at page 13) gets to the heart of the issue in only a few pages.
Removal rates where parents have a psychiatric disability have been found to be as high as 70 percent to 80 percent; where the parent has an intellectual disability, 40 percent to 80 percent. In families where the parental disability is physical, 13 percent have reported discriminatory treatment in custody cases. Parents who are deaf or blind report extremely high rates of child removal and loss of parental rights. Parents with disabilities are more likely to lose custody of their children after divorce, have more difficulty in accessing reproductive health care, and face significant barriers to adopting children.
[1] Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, Parenting with a Disability: Know Your Rights Toolkit (Short Hills, NJ: Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, 2016), 4–5. This stat has been marginally (but fortunately) reduced by new state laws passed in the last 6 months.
[2] Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927).
We'd like to post a big shout-out to all parents of children with special needs! Know that we're working hard to protect children by empowering those who know and love them best--their parents.
After all, you know your child. Their special needs make them one-of-a-kind. And no one knows that one like you.
Yet your right to make important decisions for your child is not firmly protected by law. More and more, the government is taking charge, doctors or “experts” are making the decisions, and parents are being removed from the equation.
The tragedies of Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans in the United Kingdom have shown us where this leads: where parents stand helplessly by while the state makes decisions for their child.
The stories below illustrate how parents of children with special needs have had their parental rights questioned.
Parental Rights News Stories About Parents of Children with Disabilities
Note: Parental Rights Foundations does not necessarily agree with all views expressed in these articles. They are provided here to give a glimpse into what is happening in the news.
- Guilty of Autism - Child Protective Services Blamed Me for My Son’s Condition - This anonymous story gives a glimpse into parenting an autistic child...and how painfully frustrating a false accusation can be.
"But suddenly, despite what the doctors said, my son’s autism was being held against me as an indication of neglect. Can you imagine how you’d feel if you were asked to stop your child’s medical condition—something nobody really has control over—under threat of losing your child?"
- Parents Disagree with a School on Diagnosis
- CPS Takes Son After Parents Disagree with His ADHD Diagnosis
In an unsettling case that brings parents' rights into question, CPS removed a child from his home when his parent's disagreed with his school's ADHD diagnosis.
- Judge Orders CPS Return 7-Y-O Taken From Parents for Refusing School's Demands for Mental Diagnosis - The "Maples wrote that the court ruled that the allegations against them were 'unsubstantiated,'" yet they still faced a custody battle, even though their son was returned home.
- CPS Takes Son After Parents Disagree with His ADHD Diagnosis
These are just a few of the organizations who provide support, resources, and information for people and families with disabilities.
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
The Christopher and Dana Reeves Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by advancing innovative research and improving the quality of life for individuals and families impacted by paralysis.
National Federation of the Blind
The National Federation of the Blind coordinates many programs, services, and resources to defend the rights of blind Americans, provide information and support to blind children and adults.
Cerebral Palsy Guide
Cerebral Palsy Guide is a national support organization dedicated to educating individuals and families about cerebral palsy. The organization is also committed to providing informational support for children with CP and their parents and caregivers.
Cerebral Palsy Guidance
Cerebral Palsy Guidance was created to provide answers and assistance to parents of children with cerebral palsy. Their information is medically reviewed and edited by a board-certified pediatrician or board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner. For visitors seeking legal guidance, they have partnered with experienced cerebral palsy and birth injury law firms nationwide.
Birth Injury Justice Center - Erb's Palsy
The Birth Injury Justice Center provides educational resources and legal information for families of children with disabilities caused by physical birth injuries. This page contains resources for families of children with Erb's Palsy.
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