disability family rights

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandated civil rights for people with disabilities. The law did not protect the rights of parents with disabilities. Over the years we’ve seen many children torn from their parents because of the close disabilities. The ADA protects disabled people’s rights to employment, public and private entities, transportation, and communication. However, people with disabilities may still face significant challenges when it comes to creating and maintaining families. Studies show that people with disabilities are more likely to have their parental rights taken away than people without disabilities. A recent study on national child welfare data found that 19% of foster care children have a parent with a disability. Also, child custody was awarded were more often to parents without disabilities over parents with disabilities.

For further information contact The ADA National Network. They have ten regional centers that provide information and resources to help people with disabilities understand their rights and public entities understand their responsibilities under the ADA and other civil rights laws. Or you can search “family rights and family rights”.

Joseph Tringali

Editor and Informational Advocate
Stavros Center for Independent Living
http://www.stavros.org