(A) The department, family court, probate court, and any other covered entity shall comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Fourteenth Amendment, before taking any action pursuant to Chapters 7, 9, or 15, Title 63, or Title 62 that could impact the parental rights of a person with a disability.

(B)(1) The department shall, consistent with its purposes as mandated in Section 63-7-10:

(a) make reasonable efforts, that are individualized and based upon a parent's or legal guardian's specific disability, to avoid removal of a child from the home of a parent or legal guardian with a disability, including referrals for access to adaptive parenting equipment, referrals for instruction on adaptive parenting techniques, and reasonable accommodations with regard to accessing services that are otherwise made available to a parent or legal guardian who does not have a disability;

(b) make reasonable accommodations to a parent or legal guardian with a disability as part of placement and visitation decisions; preventive, maintenance, and reunification services; and evaluations or assessments of parenting capacity.

(2) The department, and any other covered entity, must not deny reunification services to a parent or legal guardian with a disability solely on the basis of the disability.

(C) If any party to the proceedings alleges that the parent or legal guardian has a disability that affects the parent's ability to fulfill parent responsibilities, the family court shall determine and include as findings in the probable cause order:

(1) the nature of the parent's or legal guardian's disability, if any, that affects the parent's ability to fulfill parent responsibilities;

(2) the reasonable efforts made by the department to avoid removal of the child from the parent or legal guardian, including reasonable efforts made to address the parenting limitations caused by the disability; and

(3) reasonable accommodations the department, and any other covered entity, shall make to provide the parent or legal guardian with the opportunity to participate fully in the child protection proceedings throughout the duration of the case.

HISTORY: 2017 Act No. 36 (H.3538), Section 2, eff May 10, 2017.