THE SHOCKING NY TIMES STORY IS BELOW:
Shantell
lifted her 11-month-old daughter onto her right hip and looked into her
eyes until she smiled. Then, she locked her long arms as if to make a
swing and swayed the toddler back and forth.
It
was the kind of daily interaction that her lawyers say was unfairly
stripped away from Shantell, who is intellectually disabled and a mother
to two other daughters, ages 2 and 3, and parents like her.
Child
welfare workers have removed Shantell’s three children from her care at
various times, beginning in July 2016, following reports from hospital
staff and social workers that her “developmental delays” and “mental
delays” could hinder her ability to parent. With the help of lawyers,
Shantell’s children were returned to her by November 2016, but the
ordeal spurred her to join a class-action lawsuit filed last week
against New York City for violating the rights of parents who have
intellectual disabilities.
Shantell,
28, and four other mothers say the city has discriminated against them
and other parents, violating federal laws aimed at protecting the rights
of people with disabilities and shielding parents from bias from child
welfare agencies.
Lauren Shapiro, director of the Family Defense Practice at Brooklyn Defender Services, said the city’s Administration for Children’s Services
has failed to provide adequate programs and services that could assist
intellectually disabled parents in caring for their children. “Parents
with intellectual disability can be just as good of parents as anyone
else, but they need help,” she said.
Continue reading the main story
The
lawsuit comes as advocates for parents with intellectual disabilities
across the country have been increasing pressure on child welfare
agencies to do more to help parents care for their children. The legal
efforts have been bolstered by federal recommendations issued in 2015
and by the threat of a federal lawsuit against the state of Massachusetts for violating the rights of a mother who was intellectually disabled.
In
a statement, David Hansell, commissioner of the Administration for
Children’s Services, did not directly address the lawsuit. But he said,
“Treating all parents equitably is vital in our work,” adding that the
agency was “committed to ensuring that a developmental or intellectual
disability is not the basis for discriminatory treatment in any of our
programs.”
Last
year, the agency established new policies, using Massachusetts as a
guide, and began training staff on how to best assist developmentally
disabled parents. In April, the agency hired a coordinator to ensure
that it was compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. About 80
families with caregivers who are intellectually or developmentally
disabled are currently being served in specialized programs, according
to the agency.
In
2015, the federal departments of Justice and Health and Human Services
jointly issued guidelines to ensure that local child welfare agencies
were not discriminating against parents with disabilities. Two federal
laws — the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act —
prohibit such discrimination.
The federal guidelines followed a 2012 report
by the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency,
which found that parents with various disabilities, from physical to
developmental, were having their children removed at higher rates than
parents without disabilities.
“That report was a catalyst,” said Megan Kirshbaum, a primary author of the report and founder and executive director of Through the Looking Glass, a research center and advocacy group.
The
federal government also threatened to sue the Massachusetts child
welfare agency if it did not return a child to a mother described as
having mild intellectual disability; child welfare workers had removed
her 2-day-old baby from her care instead of providing services to her.
The new recommendations and the admonishment gave advocates strong footing. But parents have still been fighting and losing.
In
Oregon, a couple has drawn national attention for their four-year fight
against the state child welfare agency, which removed their two
children from their care within days of their births. Despite support
from advocates, the couple lost custody and are now continuing a legal
fight against impending termination of their parental rights.
The
lawsuit filed against New York City described hasty removals with
little or no regard for explanations from the mothers about alleged
neglect, dismissals of pledges that the parents would get help from
relatives in raising their children, and a failure to refer mothers to
programs. In the cases of two of the mothers, the fathers of their
children were also investigated and were named in removals of their
children. But only the mothers have sued.
Ms.
Kirshbaum said that in general, child welfare agencies often fail to
properly evaluate the parents, falling on stereotypes in making their
decisions to remove children. “The biggest problem is that people don’t
even look at parenting at all,” she said, referring to social workers.
“They don’t observe their parenting or do so in an office setting for
very short periods of time.”
For
three of the mothers, including Shantell, removals occurred within days
of a child’s birth with little observation of their capabilities.
Shantell,
whose last name is not disclosed in the lawsuit, declined to publicly
comment for this article because the court case with the child welfare
agency is still open. In an earlier statement published by an advocacy
group for parents, Shantell said, “I want the workers to know that I
really can tend to what I have to do, at my pace. Workers tend to rush
things and assume things.”
Homeless
at one point last year, Shantell sought the help of a child welfare
worker she had met during an earlier investigation involving her now
2-year-old daughter (That inquiry was closed without any action against
Shantell, her lawyer said). But after she went to the child welfare
worker for help with her housing needs, Shantell was investigated again.
In July 2016, the 2-year-old child was removed from her care, and in
October 2016, her newborn, now 11 months old, was removed from her care,
along with Shantell’s oldest child, who is now 3 and who is
hospitalized with a neurological condition.
In
November 2016, the child welfare agency was ordered by a Family Court judge to return Shantell’s children to her and to help her find shelter.
Ms.
Shapiro said the team of lawyers working on the case believed that the
city child welfare agency should create a special unit to specifically
work with parents who have intellectual disabilities. “Hopefully, the
lawsuit will provide some motivation,” Ms. Shapiro said.
The
agency currently has six employees in its Developmental Disabilities
Unit, but the specialized unit’s focus has been on children who are
disabled. Mr. Hansell “expects to expand this unit to build a larger
capacity to handle these cases and cases involving parents with
(intellectual disability) issues,” according a statement from the
agency.
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