Barriers
to Justice
a resumé of the findings from international research
- Parents with learning
difficulties are disproportionately represented in child care
proceedings
- Parents with learning
difficulties are less likely to have received support in their
parenting - or to have received inadequate support - before care
proceedings are initiated
- Parents with learning
difficulties are at risk of having their parental responsibility
terminated on the basis of evidence that would not hold up against
non-disabled parents
- Parents with learning
difficulties are likely to have their competence as parents judged
against stricter criteria or harsher standards than other parents
- Parents with learning
difficulties are more likely to have their children removed and
their parental rights terminated as an outcome of court proceedings
- Parents with learning
difficulties are disadvantaged in the child protection and court
process by rules of evidence and procedure, their own limitations
and inadequacies in services
- Parents with learning
difficulties are less likely to receive support in correcting
the conditions leading to termination
 'Parents with learning
difficulties, child protection and the courts', Representing
Children, 13(3), 2000, 175-188.
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