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House committee advances bill barring disability as sole basis for terminating parental rights
Summary
The Committee on Families and Children voted unanimously to give Senate Bill 26 a favorable report after proponents said the measure would ensure Kentucky courts and child-welfare agencies cannot terminate parental rights solely on the basis of a parent’s disability.
Senator Brandon Storm presented Senate Bill 26 to the House Committee on Families and Children, saying the measure would ensure Kentucky complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and that a disability alone cannot be used to terminate parental rights or to remove placement opportunities for children.
Proponents said the bill responds to two appellate decisions that highlighted the risk that parents with intellectual or developmental disabilities were not being given a fair chance to demonstrate parenting capacity. Family Court Judge Marcus Vanover and Crystal Adams of the Department for Behavioral Health’s division for intellectual and developmental disabilities summarized the commission's review and national research showing elevated removal rates for parents with disabilities.
The nut graf: Committee members were told the Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health vetted the bill after reviewing two cases — a 2019 Kentucky Supreme Court case (Cabinet for Health and Family Services v. K.S.) and a 2021 Court of Appeals case (TC v. Cabinet for Health and Family Services) — and concluded statutory clarification was needed so disability itself would not be the dispositive basis for termination of parental rights.
Vanover, who said the commission collects legislative recommendations after multi‑work‑group review, described how the commission found instances where statutory wording prevented judges from considering whether a parent’s disability, with appropriate supports, would allow family reunification. Crystal Adams cited federal technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office for Civil Rights and national studies indicating that, nationally, removal rates for parents with a psychiatric disability can be as high as 70–80 percent and for parents with intellectual disabilities 40–80 percent; she said 13 percent of families with a parent’s physical disability reported discriminatory treatment in custody cases.
Committee members posed no substantial objections and there were no amendments offered during the committee consideration. A motion and second were recorded and the committee clerk conducted a roll call. The committee reported the bill favorably by voice and roll call; the chair announced the committee vote as 15–0 with favorable expression and recommended the measure proceed to the House floor.
The bill’s supporters emphasized the measure would not change the standards for safety or remove existing child-protection tools; instead, they said, it clarifies that disability alone cannot be the determinative factor in termination proceedings and ensures parents are afforded opportunities to demonstrate improvement with supports.
Votes at a glance: the committee recorded a unanimous favorable report (15 yes, 0 no).
