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Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

CIL-NET Presents… The New Frontier of Disability Rights: Introduction to Child-Custody Rights of Parents with Disabilities

CIL-NET Presents… A National Teleconference & Webinar

August 27, 2014; 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Eastern

Register online or by using the printable registration form (PDF).

IL-NET Logo - CIL-NET + SILC-NETPresented by: Kelly Buckland, Ella Callow, and Megan Kirshbaum of the National Council on Independent Living and Through the Looking Glass

Among our most basic human rights is the right to have and raise children. Yet we know that parents with disabilities are regularly denied the opportunity to raise their children in their own homes, specifically because of their disability. Whether you or your consumers face discrimination by the courts, family members, landlords, or others, you’ll want to sign-up for this introductory presentation to learn the types of discrimination parents with disabilities typically face, and the resources, legal strategies, and other support you can provide to help them exercise their right to be proud parents with disabilities to their children.

Target Audience:

  • Any CIL staff who work directly with parents or prospective parents with disabilities. 

Registration Fee: $75.00. Fee is per site (connection) and does not apply per participant; registrants are encouraged to gather as many individuals as desired to participate by telephone or webcast.

Upon completion of this webinar, participants will have knowledge and resources that will enable them to:

  • Describe the history and impact of the eugenics movement and fundamental trends leading to discrimination against parents with disabilities.
  • Describe how disability law and policy apply to parents with disabilities in the child welfare and family law systems.
  • Explain the intersection between state law and ADA protections.
  • Identify strategies and types of programs that can protect parents with disabilities and their children from involvement in child custody litigation and/or improve outcomes if they do become involved in such litigation.
  • Understand basic structural (legal and service) changes needed to protect this population of families.
  • Understand how to advocate on a case by case basis.
  • Develop awareness of the resources that are available to provide training, support and technical assistance for creating changes structurally, case-by-case or to develop program and service capacity locally.
  • Develop awareness of key materials (articles, reports, books) that can enrich and inform stakeholders and systems.

Meet Your Presenters

Kelly Buckland is Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL). Before moving to Washington to lead NCIL, Kelly was the Executive Director of the Idaho SILC and, previously, the Executive Director of LINC, a Center for Independent Living in Boise, Idaho.

Ella Callow, J.D. is the Legal Program Director at The National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families at Through the Looking Glass.

Megan Kirshbaum, Ph.D. is the Founder & Executive Director of Through the Looking Glass and is the Co-Director of its National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families.

PRESENTED BY CIL-NET: A program of the IL-NET national training and technical assistance project for Centers for Independent Living (CIL-NET) and Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILC-NET). The IL-NET is operated by ILRU, Independent Living Research Utilization, in partnership with the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL).