Custody Rights of Parents with Disabilities

Illinois laws and agency policies put parents with disabilities on the defensive in custody cases

Graphic of a Mother and Daughter Everyone wants to see children living in caring, nurturing homes, but it is clear that both the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), the agency responsible for ensuring the safety of children in the State of Illinois, and the Illinois courts treat individuals with mental illness and developmental disabilities differently than other parents in the child protection system.

Equip for Equality represents parents with mental and developmental disabilities to ensure their fundamental right to raise, educate and see to the well-being of their own children. Often individuals lose custody of their children because they fall victim to rulings based solely on their disabilities. Parents with disabilities may be determined to have neglected their children if they, for instance, have not provided an "adequate care plan" when the children are placed in the care of another individual.

This is precisely what happened to "Mary," one of Equip for Equality's clients. Mary needed inpatient treatment for her depression, and, in order to receive it, she did what many parents do: she left her children in the care of a trusted friend until she could return home. In her absence and unbeknownst to Mary, the friend had arranged for alternative childcare, putting them in the care of a convicted sex offender. When the children returned home one day, they said that they felt "uncomfortable" with the man. The friend alerted DCFS.

There are things that all individuals, whether they have disabilities or not, should know about the State of Illinois child protection system. DCFS holds tremendous power over the fates of families - which can be radically altered by something as simple as an anonymous call to the agency's hot-line - and yet DCFS provides little recourse for parents with disabilities to equitably address the process or defend against adverse rulings. Read the Full Article...

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