Title

  • Making Good on an Historic Federal Precedent: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Claims and the Termination of Parental Rights of Parents with Mental Disabilities

Creator

Published In

Date

  • 2015

Bibliographic Citation

  • 18 QUINNIPIAC HEALTH LAW JOURNAL 191 (2015)

Abstract

  • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) represents an underutilized advocacy tool for legal practitioners in the termination of parental rights (TPR) cases of parents with mental disabilities. Historic federal precedent by two administrative agencies in January, 2015 clarified that the ADA can be used to defend parents with mental disabilities in the child welfare system, after many years of confusion on the state and federal level. This paper provides a socio-legal justification for utilizing the ADA in this context, along with a sound theoretical framework of disability rights discourse theory, Family Systems Theory, and Vulnerability Theory. The paper presents concrete strategies and potential challenges for practitioners to utilize the ADA in both administrative and litigative child welfare arenas, drawing from lessons in the special education context. However, the paper ultimately argues that a wholesale conceptual shift and extensive professional training on this matter are required, to thoroughly protect vulnerable families and rescue overwhelmed public systems.

SSRN URL

Keywords

  • parent
  • termination of parental rights
  • child
  • child welfare
  • disability
  • mental
  • psychology
  • abuse
  • neglect
  • maltreatment
  • social service
  • family
  • ADA
  • Americans with Disabilities Act
  • child protection

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