https://goo.gl/15fQBT
On November 14, 2017, Washington College of Law’s Disability Law Society and Family Law Society hosted “Rocking the Cradle: The Rights of Parents with Disabilities.” The hosts invited four experts on the issue: Molly Burgdorf and Carla Carter, who are both civil rights analysts for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Sarah DeCosse, who is an attorney advisor in the disability rights section of the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice; and Joan Durocher, who is the general counsel and director of policy for the National Council on Disability. Each panelist spoke for about ten minutes in total, and a variety of issues relating to the rights of a parent with disabilities was covered.
Ms. Durocher started by talking about a report that the National Council on Disability created called Rocking the Cradle: Ensuring the Rights of Parents with Disabilities and Their Children. The report found that discrimination against parents with disabilities is extreme. It is one of the only groups in the U.S. who must fight to retain or even to gain parental rights. Ms. Durocher emphasized this by telling the story of a baby who was taken away from two blind parents simply because they were blind. Those parents had to fight from the start for the right to be allowed to keep their child. The report recommended a number of things to do to prevent situations like this from happening. It encourages states that list disability as a reason to terminate parental rights to eliminate such statutes. The report found that thirty-seven states have these types of statues on the books. In addition, the report also recommended that the Department of Education build parenting skills into its curriculum for people with disabilities. The report further asked for better data collection and for Congress to address the problem.
And Much More....