Abstract
I. Introduction
II. Background ... A. Parental Rights Termination Statutes ... B. Parental Rights Termination Proceedings ... 1. Mental Illness or Mental Deficiency as a Ground to Terminate Parental Rights ... 2. The Best Interests of the Child Standard ... 3. The Use of Parenting Evaluations to Make Parental Rights Termination Decisions ... C. The Stigmatization of Parents with Mental Challenges ... 1. Empirical Evidence of Stigma Against Parents with Mental Challenges ... 2. Judicial Reliance on Mental Illness in Parental Rights Termination Proceedings ... 3. Evidence That Parents with Mental Challenges Can Still Be “Fit” Parents
III. Analysis ... A. Parental Rights Termination Statutes Promote the Stigmatization of Parents with Mental Challenges … B. Mental Illness or Mental Deficiency as a Ground for Termination Does Not Protect Children … 1. Mental Illness or Mental Deficiency Is Rarely the Only Ground for Termination ... 2. Termination Does Not Ensure Stability for the Children ... C. Alternatives to Termination ... 1. Provide Parents with More Time for Treatment ... 2. It Takes a Village—Parenting Does Not Have to Be All or Nothing
IV. Conclusion
Recommended Citation
Julie Wertheimer,
The Statutory Stigmatization of Mentally Ill Parents in Parental Rights Termination Proceedings,
98 Neb. L. Rev. 746
(2019)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol98/iss3/7