[blindlaw] Gaining custody of Nephew though I am legally blind

[Frye, Dan]

Your first step should be to express your interest in assuming
responsibility for the neglected child in question to the CPS officials
who are conducting the current investigation. You should indicate that
you are blood relatives, and that you are interested in being of support
to the child during the child's parents period of rehabilitation. You
should disclose your legal blindness immediately, but indicate that this
fact should have no impact on your capacity to competently provide for
the welfare of your nephew. You should explain that you are currently
the parent of a special needs child already, and that you are managing
nicely to provide your own child with the care and love he/she needs and
deserves. I would urge you, despite the irritation inherent in being
questioned about vision loss, to calmly and truthfully discuss the
alternative techniques that you employ to manage as a parent should
these questions arise, and I would urge you to present a competent,
articulate, and interested demeanor.

As Ron has generally advised, the state will be interested in
identifying a family member to step in before resorting to the resources
of state service to provide care. The other principles he has
articulated are also generally accurate. Blindness itself should not
present a legal challenge in this context, but we know that social
misconceptions and human nature often result in blindness being an
issue. More often than not, some calm, rational public education is
sufficient to overcome any initial concern expressed about blindness.
Fair or not, it is my experience that the sharper and more in control
you seem, the more likely it is that your blindness will be ignored as a
relevant factor.

My spouse and I have been foster parents to two children. We are both
blind; I am totally blind, Renee is legally blind. We now have permanent
custody of our two nieces while my sister is unable to care for her
children. In both instances inquiries about our blindness were made by
authorities, but the responses we offered seemed to be accepted, and we
have been successful care givers in both cases.

If you do encounter trouble, I can provide you with anecdotal testimony
from a number of blind care givers that should help any argument that
you might need to make to a neutral fact finder. I collect such data in
my capacity as an advocate here on the NFB's national staff. The right
of blind parents to serve the interest of children, special needs or
otherwise, is a personal passion of mine; please let me know if you
require assistance. Work on the assumption, though, that blindness alone
should not in and of itself prove a legal barrier to your commitment to
serve.

With Kind Regards,

Dan Frye  
-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces+dfrye=nfb.org at nfbnet.org
[mailto:blindlaw-bounces+dfrye=nfb.org at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of M BG
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 3:02 AM
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindlaw] Gaining custody of Nephew though I am legally blind

My sister-in-law is looking at having her child taken from her by Child
Protective Services in Modesto CA.  She is a drug addict and has been
abusing and neglecting her special needs son.  He has cerebral palsy and
is epileptic. My husband and I are the first blood relatives and want to
have our nephew placed in our custody.  What steps if any should we take
to ensure that this happens?  Will my legal blindness prevent CPS from
placing him with us?  We have an Autistic three year old our selves, so
dealing with a special needs child is nothing new to us.  
   
  Anyone have any advice?

       
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