Session: Parenting with Disabilities: Research Opportunities and Challenges (Society for Social Work and Research 29th Annual Conference)

Parents with disabilities are an understudied and often stigmatized population. As a result, there can be a general societal presumption that parents with disabilities are incapable of being good parents or have the ability to parent at all. This can result in parents with disabilities being required to demonstrate parenting skills when their non-disabled peers are not and experiencing disproportionate involvement in child welfare systems based, in large part, on assumptions about their ability to adequately parent.

This symposium will explore three novel research projects focused on parenting with disabilities to begin a discussion about opportunities and challenges for supporting this population through research, intervention, and policy. Representing five institutions from across the country, this symposium will begin by presenting a global scoping review of research on parents with disabilities who have child welfare involvement. This review will set the stage for understanding what the research landscape is globally and identify gaps in the literature, both geographically and topically.

Two intervention research projects will also be presented, both of which explore parenting with intellectual disabilities. The first study is a mixed-methods pilot study of Parent-Centered Planning (“PCP�), an intervention designed to help parents with intellectual disabilities build their connections to formal and informal support networks. Results indicate that PCP may reduce parental stress and help parents develop healthier support networks; however, a limited number of services tailored to meet the needs of parents with intellectual disabilities and difficulty with follow-through may provide ongoing challenges.

The second study utilized treatment effects analysis to study the effectiveness of Project IMPACT, an intensive in-home family preservation intervention designed for parents with intellectual disabilities who have child welfare involvement. That study compared Project IMPACT families to untreated families in an adjacent jurisdiction who did not have access to specialized services. Results indicate that there is a large and significant effect for families remaining intact one year after participating in Project IMPACT compared to untreated families. Results were shared with child welfare and disability practitioners, administrators, and researchers through a series of listening sessions. Participants identified the need for specialized training and supervision, dissemination of tailored evidence-based interventions, and additional research on the clinical components of parenting interventions that make them successful.

After the paper presentations, our discussant will use her expertise to synthesize the research presented and guide a discussion on how to effectively move this nascent area of research forward. She will also moderate questions and discussion introduced by audience members.

Our discussant is a nationally recognized leader in the field of disabilities across the lifespan and the development of culturally relevant interventions. With her knowledge, skill, and guidance, we expect a robust group discussion that can help move the field forward.