Our Services
Technical Assistance in Individual Cases is provided to parents to help them understand the legal process in child custody cases, and to both parents and professionals in these cases regarding the intersection of federal and state disability and civil rights law with the state child welfare, divorce or guardianship law. We also work to ensure that all parties understand best practice intervention and assessment models for various disabilities to create meaningful evidence for the trier of fact as to parental capacity and best interest of the child.
Conducting research, both qualitative and quantitative regarding, among other subjects, the experience and prevalence of this population in child welfare, family law and probate courts, the unique issue disability presents in Indian Child Welfare Act cases, the systemic problems in data collection by the large systems governing such proceedings, and the shifting demographics of the population over time.
Producing literature to assist parents, their advocates, and implicated professionals involved in custody cases. This includes the publishing of guides and articles, and the continual updating of our annotated collection of legal precedents and law review articles concerning parents with disabilities. See: Publications in the TLG store
Providing information to legislative and media interests so that they better understand the historic and cultural framework in which the debate over parenting with a disability occurs, the practical implications of our current legal framework and the real qualitative experience of parents and professionals involved in these cases both nationally and internationally.
Contributing to the State of the Art in understanding this population by speaking at conferences nationally and internationally and conducting specifically tailored trainings for various professionals, such as family law mediators, child welfare social workers, parents’ attorneys and early intervention program and Independent Living Center staff, to help these professionals cope with the unique legal and practical issues that arise when they are participating in litigation involving a parent with a disability.