Disabled parents face bias, loss of kids: Report

Twins Abigail and Noah Thomas, 8, ride on the motorized wheelchair of their mother, Jenn Thomas, on their way to a school book fair in Arlington Heights, Ill., Nov. 19, 2012 Thomas, a 36-year-old mom who has cerebral palsy, says her twins occasionally complain about having to do a few extra chores around the house to help her. Abigail, nods and smiles upon hearing this, but says for the most part, their lives are "kind of normal." / AP Photo/Martha Irvine

Millions of Americans with disabilities have gained innumerable rights and opportunities since Congress passed landmark legislation on their behalf in 1990. And yet advocates say barriers and bias still abound when it comes to one basic human right: To be a parent.

A Kansas City, Mo., couple had their daughter taken into custody by the state two days after her birth because both parents were blind. A Chicago mother, because she is quadriplegic, endured an 18-month legal battle to keep custody of her young son. A California woman paid an advance fee to an adoption agency, then was told she might be unfit to adopt because she has cerebral palsy.

Such cases are found nationwide, according to a new report by the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency. The 445-page document is viewed by the disability-rights community as by far the most comprehensive ever on the topic — simultaneously an encyclopedic accounting of the status quo and an emotional plea for change.

"Parents with disabilities continue to be the only distinct community that has to fight to retain — and sometimes gain — custody of their own children," said autism-rights activist Ari Ne'eman, a member of the council. "The need to correct this unfair bias could not be more urgent or clear."

• "Rocking the Cradle: Ensuring the Rights of Parents with Disabilities and Their Children" - ncd.gov (pdf)

The U.S. legal system is not adequately protecting the rights of parents with disabilities, the report says, citing child welfare laws in most states allowing courts to determine that a parent is unfit on the basis of a disability. Terminating parental rights on such grounds "clearly violates" the intent of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, the report contends.

Child-welfare experts, responding to the report, said they shared its goals of expanding supports for disabled parents and striving to keep their families together. But they said removals of children from their parents — notably in cases of significant intellectual disabilities — are sometimes necessary even if wrenching.

"At the end of the day, the child's interest in having permanence and stability has to be the priority over the interests of their parents," said Judith Schagrin, a veteran child-welfare administrator in Maryland.

In the bulk of difficult cases, ensuring vital support for disabled parents may be all that's needed to eliminate risks or lessen problems, many advocates say.

The new report, titled "Rocking the Cradle: Ensuring the Rights of Parents with Disabilities and Their Children," estimates that 6.1 million U.S. children have disabled parents. It says these parents are more at risk than other parents of losing custody of their children, including removal rates as high as 80 percent for parents with psychiatric or intellectual disabilities.

Parents with all types of disabilities — physical or mental — are more likely to lose custody of their children after divorce, have more difficulty accessing assisted-reproductive treatments to bear children, and face significant barriers to adopting children, the report says.

One of the cases it details involved Erika Johnson and Blake Sinnett of Kansas City, whose 2-day-old daughter, Mikaela, was taken into custody by Missouri authorities because both parents were blind. The action occurred after a hospital nurse reported that Johnson seemed to be having trouble with her first attempts at breast-feeding — which Johnson said happens with many first-time mothers.

During a 57-day legal battle, before the couple regained custody, they were allowed to visit Mikaela only two to three times a week, for an hour at a time, with a foster parent monitoring.

Since then, the family has been left in peace, said Johnson, who tries to offer support to other disabled parents facing similar challenges.

"Some parents just give up or don't have the resources," she said in a telephone interview.

A Windsor, Colo., woman with disabilities says the prejudice she encountered prompted her to go to law school, to better defend her own rights and those of other disabled parents.

Carrie Ann Lucas uses a power wheelchair and is reliant on a ventilator due to a form of muscular dystrophy. She is a single mother of four adopted children, ages 22, 17, 13 and 11, all of whom also have disabilities, including two who use wheelchairs and three with intellectual disabilities.

Lucas says she's been the subject of several investigations by child welfare officials that she attributed to bias linked to her disabilities.

"Each one of these referrals that gets accepted for investigation causes a great deal of stress, not only for me, but for my children," Lucas wrote in an email.

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[barbaram99]

I am a sp needs person from birth..I am childless by choice..I am 58..I felt it best for me not to bring a child in to the world that I could not care for.. That is unselfish on my part..I am aware the state does take children from parents.. I was a foster kid..I am legally blind with C/P from birth..

[loveoflife]

What would you do if you were a soldier who just came back from iraq or Afganistan? Found out you had a disability & a wife & children to take care ? And, you could not.

I know you would try to get help from the VA. How many good men have fought & came back with a disability that they never thought would happen? Legs are off, arm is missing, has Epilepsy because of trauma, ends up in a wheel chair?

people, stop and think how many of us as was said before have a disability yet do not know it.

Be Kind to people with disabilities and our Soldiers too

Loveof Life

[PourpaixPourpaix]

Adequate care for the children must be the priority. I'm sure many disabled parents can do that for their kids, but there is, without a doubt, many disabilities that either preclude adequate care or become downright dangerous to the kids. My next-door neighbor drank himself into severe brain damage and can barely walk. His caustic attitude would destroy any child in his household. And when his child gets hurt because the mere sight of the kid's nose sends him into a flying rage, everyone posting on this site will be ripe with indignation that the government allowed this child in such a maniac's household. But because he hasn't beaten anybody up recently, he's allowed to live by himself.

Sorry, but some folks shouldn't have kids.

[SusanStoHelit]

The child's needs are more important than the parent's desires.

It's not wrong at all to work to be sure the child's needs are taken care of, and not everyone CAN take care of a child. It's sad that some are disabled, and that this may mean they are not fit parents, but it is also a reality, and to think of the child only as a possession of the parent, someTHING they get to keep - that's just wrong. The child has rights too, to a home that is reasonably safe. Many disabled parents can provide this - but some cannot. It's just plain wrong to let the term 'disability' mean that a child is allowed to be severely endangered.

[VA_Jill]

Taking away kids simply because of the parents' disabilities is ignorant and nothing but an outgrowth of the discredited eugenics movement. My daughter-in-law is the hearing child of deaf parents (she also has a hearing brother and a deaf sister) and her first language was ASL. She had plenty of hearing relatives and she and her brother learned to talk just fine, thank you. Being bilingual has been a benefit to her as she has often worked as an interpreter for the deaf. When I was young I had a neighbor who'd had polio and was on crutches. She did just fine with her 4 kids including an infant. Another friend had polio as a child, walks with a limp and has a paralyzed arm, but was a foster mom for a lot of kids, many with special needs, and adopted a couple of them (the ones nobody else wanted, of course, because they weren't "perfect"). There is no reason at all that people with handicaps can't take care of their kids, even if some need some help from relatives or outside agencies.

[Lerianis6]

With all due respect, they should not remove these children from homes if they are not being neglect and abused out of the malice of the parents.

The families should be given access to services that help the paraplegic parent take care of their children.

This is just an appalling attempt by officials to 'steal children', as my one relative said when the social services people tried to do it to her.

[SusanStoHelit]

Malice isn't needed. Someone who lets their toddler roam the streets all the time is not a fit parent, even if they do so due to a disability rather than malice. Malice isn't needed for someone to be an unfit parent.

If they're being neglected or abused, or placed in severe danger - they should be removed, even if the parents do so with a good heart, due to a disability, religious belief, or whatever.

[Mays2011]

exactly! there are parents that have all of their mental and physical faculties and are really horrible parents. these people should focus on the children that are being abused, especially these people in Frankfort, KY! This is really sad.

[magnumdr]

I think that our Government should mind it's own buisness. If they can help, so be it. How would you like to have your kids taken away?. Only in America!

[Lerianis6]

No, not only in America, they have had documented cases of this in the U.K., the E.U. as a whole, and even in China.

[caljack430]

While I strongly believe that anyone who has the desire to be a parent should have the ability to do so... I just hope that people who deal with severe disabilities take the time to think through just how they will be able to raise a child. There is of course, a lot of unneeded and unwarranted bias, as seen here, but there are also many cases where the parent is quite honestly, simply not able to care for a child. Whether the reason for that be due to a disability or life situation, I wish more people would look past the 'omgomgomg i'm gonna be a mommy/daddy' and realize just how much time, money and effort are required to raise a healthy and functioning child.

[judymar14]

Each case is different. A social worker could spend a week or so watching the parent(s) care for the children then make a decision as to whether the child can be cared for properly. Millions of able parents neglect, abuse and murder their children. A quick visit by a case worker to ask them if they are neglecting the children, "no", and that's the end of it. Common sense needs to be used, which very few social/case workers seem to have.

[loveoflife]

I have a hidden disability and do think parents should take care of their own children.
Do not let government step in to take away the children, or as said above "neglect, and abuse".

We,(am speaking for people with disabilites) can take care of our children very well. We are smart, have talents like others. As you see in Special Olympics.

Would you rather have a man beat you almost to death, have a stillborn baby ,all of this was done to me by a Cop
then have a disability? It is easy for the Rich person who does not have a disabilty to speak up & say it is wrong.
Yet it is not. She cannot drive, I am sure many people have stopped her and said pls becareful.

There are times I wish I did not have my disability, especially when you apply for a job, or get words thrown at you that are not nice.
Think of the Boomers who have dementia , would you make fun of them or say something nasty? No you would not.

I do understand what you are saying, yet let the People who have Disabilities live for themselves and take care of
their children.

Loveof Life