An interdisciplinary team of ArizonaLEND trainees was deeply upset after hearing a story shared during the ArizonaLEND seminar on Best Practices in Working with Parents with Disabilities. The story involved a mother with an intellectual disability who attended her termination of parental rights hearing without understanding why she was there. She was not given an adequate opportunity to comprehend the purpose of the hearing and had no one present to advocate for her or help her understand the proceedings.
The seminar also highlighted the long-standing history of discrimination against parents with disabilities within the Department of Child Safety (DCS) system, where such parents are more likely to have their children removed solely because of their disability. This inspired the team to launch a leadership project exploring the policies—or lack thereof—that protect parents with disabilities. “It’s not just an oversight. It is an injustice…. Without explicit legal protection they can face these unfair judgments, unwarranted interventions and systematic barriers” expressed Family Discipline trainee Jessica Wagner.
The group reviewed the Arizona Revised Statutes policies to see where Arizona is lacking in their protection against discrimination of parents with disabilities within the DCS system. As a result of their research, they developed a fact sheet discussing Arizona’s state policies and includes comparisons to similar states. Genetic Counseling trainee, Chloe DeGiorgio stated, “The goal of our fact sheet was to be an educational resource that can serve as a starting point for changing the laws in Arizona to protect parents with disabilities from discrimination.”
The fact sheet is organized into several sections. It begins with an overview of current rights in Arizona, including relevant case examples. Subsequent sections lay the foundation for why changes are needed to protect parents with disabilities. The fact sheet also includes comparisons with laws from other states—chosen for their similar population size or geographic proximity to Arizona—to provide a broader context. Lastly, the fact sheet includes resources available for parents with disabilities.
During the team’s presentation on this topic Social Work trainee Laura Burkhart shared this case example, “there was a father with a learning disability, whose only safety concern cited for his oldest child [by DCS] was the fact that he [the father] had a learning disability.”
The ArizonaLEND trainees’ project highlights the inequities and discrimination that parents with disabilities face within the Arizona DCS system. By shedding light on the gaps in current Arizona laws and offering a comparative analysis with other states their work underscores the need for policy reform to ensure that parents with disabilities are treated with fairness, dignity, and respect.
Download below fact sheet developed by the team of ArizonaLEND trainees:
Parents With Disabilities in AZ
