The National Research Center for Parents with Disabilities conducts research and provides training and technical assistance to improve the lives of parents with disabilities and their families. We share our findings here on this website.
We offer information sheets, research briefs, and other resources for parents with disabilities, legal professionals, social workers, and researchers. These resources cover a variety of topics, including child-welfare law and its effects on parents with disabilities, firsthand narratives from parents with disabilities about how they raise their children, and advice for professionals working with specific populations of parents with disabilities.
The Center for Parents recognizes that parents with disabilities know what they need. We are guided by the principle "nothing about us without us."
In the News
Disabled mothers-to-be face indignity: ‘Do you have a man? Can you have sex?’
Lurie Institute Director Monika Mitra and the National Center for Parents with Disabilities are highlighted in story on disabled parents. Although disabled women have children at the same rate as nondisabled women, Mitra notes that "[t]he assumption is that a person cannot have a disability and take care of someone else." When Mitra began investigating pregnancy and perinatal issues facing people with disabilities, she was surprised by the lack of information and data available.
ParentingWell Learning Collaborative
Massachusetts Behavioral Health Providers are participating in the ParentingWell Learning Collaborative
ParentingWell® is an approach to routine practice that makes talking about parenting, children, and family experiences a natural part of the conversation and of an adult’s recovery process.
Learn more about the ParentingWell Practice Profile
Call for Blog Submissions
Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis.
The National Research Center for Parents with Disabilities, a program of the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy at Brandeis University, is currently looking for parents with disabilities to contribute to a quarterly blog on the experiences and needs of parents with disabilities. Contributors will be paid $100 per accepted submission. We believe in placing parents with disabilities at the forefront, and one way to do that is invite them to share their own experiences. We are interested in bringing together a racially, culturally, and experientially diverse group of people to contribute.
Go to Call for Submissions | Go to Community Blog
Upcoming & Recent
New Brief: Fatherhood with a Disability
Fathers with disabilities are an overlooked segment of the disabled population. Researchers at the Research Center for Parents with Disabilities and the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy are beginning to identify their specific health and other needs.
The Role of Disabled and Deaf Fathers in the Family
September 28, 2021
Noon - 1 p.m. EDT
Coping with COVID: Parenting with a Disability During a Pandemic
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Noon - 1 p.m. EST
Current State Legislation Supporting Parents with Disabilities
Despite notable achievements in other areas of disability rights, parents with disabilities continue to encounter significant discrimination. Parents with disabilities are more likely to have their children removed by the child welfare system as well as have their parental rights terminated. Moreover, within the family law system, disabled parents are less likely to gain access to custody or visitation of their children. Finally, prospective parents with disabilities encounter barriers to adopting children or becoming foster parents. While there are many reasons for the pervasive discrimination, it is notable that the child welfare, family law, and adoption systems are largely driven by state statutes.
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