Disabled Parents’ Rights Can Be Terminated, Court Rules
An appeals court ruled Thursday that state authorities can terminate the parental rights of a gravely disabled person.
The opinion by the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana clears the way for a Fountain Valley woman to proceed with the adoption of a boy whose mother is a psychiatric patient at a Norwalk mental health facility.
The mother has fought the adoption, saying it would violate her rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But the court ruled that the act does not guarantee a disabled person custody if a child will not be cared for properly.
The mother, the child and the would-be adoptive mother have not been identified.
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