This report explains the procedure for terminating parental rights and discusses related issues, including grounds for termination, consideration of the child's best interests, and procedural safeguards for the rights of parents. Emerging issues of interest to state legislators are examined. An analysis of involuntary termination of parental…

This report presents Wisconsin state legislation dealing with custody arrangements. Part I gives key provisions of 1987 Assembly Bill 205. Part II reviews background activities related to the custody legislation. Part III discusses major issues relating to child custody arrangements, including definition clarification, child custody dispute…

The National Parent Teacher Association acknowledges parents' primary child-rearing role, but questions the need for legislation to extend parents' constitutional rights. Parents already have numerous rights and options for fighting "unreasonable" government interference. The laws that upset parental rights proponents are needed to…

Many parents critical of public education have removed their children from public schools and are schooling them at home. Home schooling has generated a number of lawsuits. Controversies have arisen over the definitions of "school" and of "equivalent instruction," parents' qualifications to teach, and religious exemptions from…

The booklet is intended to help parents plan with educators to develop handicapped children's individualized educational programs. An initial section reviews West Virginia State and Federal laws and notes the reasons for and avenues of parent participation. Steps in education planning are then outlined for identification/referral,…

The nationwide phenomenon of home instruction is meeting resistance from state compulsory school attendance laws, resulting in many court cases in recent years. Parents who choose to teach their children at home may do so on moral or religious grounds, or because they consider public schools too conservative or traditional. State compulsory…

Examines three aspects of legal treatment of blood relationships in the adoption process: (1) ability of relatives to participate in adoption proceedings; (2) how courts evaluate blood relationships in determining best interests of the child; and (3) rights of relatives to continued contact when a child is adopted by nonrelatives. (Author)

Conflicts between parents' wishes and school authorities' decisions have historically occurred in several areas, including compulsory education, special education, and curriculum. Reviews legal precedents for parental rights, explores current court cases involving parent/school authority conflicts, and critiques recent state legislation concerning…

As compared with figures from 1979, the incidence of validated abuse in child day care facilities in Texas has risen 330 percent. In response to growing public concern about the potential risks to children in day care, the state Senate Committee on Health and Human Resources was directed to examine state laws regulating child day care and to…