Parents with intellectual disability need more support
Intellectually disabled parents falling through NDIS cracks
Research suggests three in five children with intellectually disabled parents are removed from their care. Academics from the University of Sydney explain why more needs to be done to support these parents to ensure the best outcomes for both themselves and their children.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare last month released its report on people with disability. It shows two in three people with disability aged 35 to 44 years have parenting responsibilities and over one in five people with intellectual disability aged 15 to 44 years have children.
While it is estimated 0.41% of Australian parents have intellectual disability, international evidence shows most people with intellectual disability who become parents are classified in the “low” to “borderline” intellectual functioning range. So they may not identify with a label of intellectual disability. The real percentage of parents in this category is likely to be higher.
Child protection statistics are a sober reminder of the vulnerability these families face if they fall between the cracks of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and mainstream support services. Up to three in every five children with a parent or parents with intellectual disability are likely to be removed from their care according to research from around the world.
Parenting should be treated as an activity of daily living for people with disability and then supported – rather than ignored – to ensure the best outcomes for parents and children.
The situation for parents with disability
With the right help, parents with intellectual disability can and do learn what it takes to be a good parent. But their efforts to keep their family together can be undermined by disjointed services and the separation of parenting responsibility from disability needs.
The NDIS is a key plank of Australia’s efforts to meet our obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This includes the right to participate fully in society, live independently, and have a family. In reality, families living with disability face perilous service gaps that undermine these rights.
The NDIS does not fund general family support. Despite inclusion as a priority group in the latest National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children, families with disability are only mentioned in passing in mainstream family support programs such as in New South Wales.
We have noted in our previous research that, if a mother with intellectual disability is assessed as requiring support with living skills, an NDIS funded support worker may teach her to buy and prepare her own meals and do the laundry. But the same worker is often not permitted to teach her how to sterilise her baby’s bottles or wash nappies.
If the first support a mother with intellectual disability receives follows a mandatory report to child protection, it is likely to be too little and too late.
As one parent we spoke to explained:
I […] couldn’t keep up with the housework. So, community services removed them for that. And they took the youngest at three days old from the hospital, simply for the fact that the other kids were in care.
Parenting is part of life
