Disabled Parents and Custodial Rights

Just because someone suffers from a physical disability does not mean s/he cannot be an effective parent or that the child’s best interests are better served by taking the child from the disabled parent’s home. At least that’s my opinion. It seems to me that unless a parent’s disability prevents him/her from meeting the needs of the child, that parent has the same right to raise children as any other parent.

Yet, all over this country, disabled people have to fight for the fundamental right to parent. It seems that no matter how we advance in protecting individual rights and giving everyone in our society a fair shake, there is always more to do.

A recent article by David Crary in the Huffington Post delved into this alarming issue. According to Crary, a recent report by the National Council on Disability (an independent federal agency) determined that children are being removed from homes for no other reason than parental disability. People are losing custody because they are blind, or deaf, without any inquiry into whether the disability actually impacts the ability to care for the child. The report, entitled “Rocking the Cradle: Ensuring the Rights of Parents with Disabilities and Their Children” there are over six million children living in homes with a disabled parent, and these parents are at a much higher risk of losing custody than so-called able-bodied parents.

In my law practice, I have represented blind, deaf and even autistic parents. I have represented wheelchair-bound parents suffering from multiple sclerosis. In each case, the parent loved, nurturing and capable.

Michigan requires the family court to determine custody in the child’s best interests. No less – or more – a standard should apply simply because a parent suffers a disability. In the context of divorce, a disabled parent’s request for custody should be given the same consideration as the more able-bodied other parent. If, and only if, the disability impairs the parent’s ability to meet the best interests of the child, should the disability even be considered in a custody award.

According to Carry’s article, the findings of bias against disabled parents exist on several levels. It may not involve a divorce and custody battle. It might be a hospital calling in Protective Services at the birth of a child to a disabled parent. Protective Services might intervene to prevent a disabled parent from taking a newborn home. It is disturbing to consider how the ability of a baby to bond with his parents in the first days of life might impact that child’s emotional and psychological development throughout the rest of his life, all because a state social worker did not believe a blind mother can properly provide for an infant. In my opinion, this type of interference in the family life of disabled Americans reflects more than bias, it reflects ignorance. That ignorance, in this day and age, is hardly forgivable, particularly when we consider the harm done to families.

The Rocking the Cradle report recommends an amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure that disabled parents are not subject to the bias of state agencies and courts in their attempts to bring healthy children into the world and raise them to responsible adulthood. I agree with that recommendation.

If you are disabled and concerned about your parental rights, you should contact an attorney. Crary’s article is informative and will lead to additional resources. It can be found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/disabled-parents_n_2190725.html