Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of parental cognitive impairment in cases opened for child maltreatment investigation in Canada, and to examine the relationship between parental cognitive impairment and maltreatment investigation outcomes including substantiation, case disposition and court application. Methods:…

A group of 10 young adults from a population-based series in Sweden, of originally 42 individuals, born to mothers with mild intellectual disability (ID), were interviewed with regard to their experiences during childhood, adolescence, and their current situation. The interview revealed that 6 of the 10 individuals had been removed from their…

Child neglect has negative effects throughout the life span. Although an argument for a link between intellectual disabilities and neglectful parenting can be made, this article argues for a more fine-grained view of the cognitive problems that underlie child neglect perpetration and provides evidence for a social information processing model of…

Parents with intellectual disabilities (ID) are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system. Parents with ID can be better served by developing curricula that support various modes of learning. Technology offers a potentially effective tool because it is visual, interactive, and self-instructional. SafeCare[R] is an evidence-based…

Objectives: All 50 states and the District of Columbia have statutes outlining the grounds for terminating parental rights (TPR) in relation to child abuse and neglect. Although recent research has found that parents with disabilities are not more likely to maltreat their children than parents without disabilities ([Glaun and Brown, 1999] and…

Parents with intellectual disabilities (PID) are overrepresented in the child protective services (CPS) system. This study examined a more nuanced view of the role of cognition in parenting risk. Its goal was to validate a social information processing (SIP) model of child neglect that draws on social cognition research and advances in…

It is unlikely that every parent with intellectual disability comes under the scrutiny of the care and protection system. That many do is evident in the figures from a number of countries that report between 30 and 40% of the children of parents with intellectual disability are removed from their parents' care and placed in protective custody, in…

Objectives: This study set out to identify risk factors affecting parents with intellectual disabilities (IDs) by determining: (i) whether perception of family support differs between parents with IDs, referring professionals, and a specialist parenting service; (ii) whether multivariate familial and demographic factors differentiates "high-risk"…

A study retrospectively examined case notes and records of 12 families in which the mother had a documented intellectual disability, who were brought to court on child protection grounds. Findings indicate that the cumulative weight of stressful emotional, physical, and social factors, in combination with limited intellect, precipitated a crisis…

Describes an empirically validated assessment and child-care training model for parents with intellectual disabilities. The parent education approach is based on an interactional model of parenting and the view that many parenting problems are due to specific skill deficiencies that are remediable. A case study is presented. (Author/CR)

This study determined prevalence and outcome data on parents with disabilities and their children in statutory child-protection proceedings in New South Wales (Australia). Parents with disabilities (usually psychiatric or intellectual) featured in almost one-third of the cases. Court outcomes indicated a disproportionately large number of children…

Two families were studied that had children placed in foster care due to abuse and neglect by parents with mental retardation. One mother easily learned necessary parenting skills. In the second case, incremental resumption of custody was made contingent on completion of relevant parenting tasks; when progress in task completion ceased, parental…

This report summarizes the findings of a study of court files relating to care proceedings involving parents with an intellectual disability. The authors found that 15.3% of all children subject to care applications in the year 2000 in the courts studied had at least one parent with an intellectual disability. They also found that these children…