Kentucky
Disability Type(s) Included in State Law as Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights:
- Intellectual/developmental disabilities
- Psychiatric/emotional disabilities
Current Termination of Parental Rights Law that Includes Parental Disability:
Ky. Rev. Stat. § 625.090 (2022)
(3) In determining the best interest of the child and the existence of a ground for termination, the Circuit Court shall consider the following factors:
(a) Mental illness as defined by KRS 202A.011(9), or an intellectual disability as defined by KRS 202B.010(9) of the parent as certified by a qualified mental health professional, which renders the parent consistently unable to care for the immediate and ongoing physical or psychological needs of the child for extended periods of time;
Ky. Rev. Stat. § 202A.011 (2022)
(9) "Mentally ill person" means a person with substantially impaired capacity to use self-control, judgment, or discretion in the conduct of the person’s affairs and social relations, associated with maladaptive behavior or recognized emotional symptoms where impaired capacity, maladaptive behavior, or emotional symptoms can be related to physiological, psychological, or social factors;
Ky. Rev. Stat. § 202B.010 (2022)
(9) "Individual with an intellectual disability" means a person with significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period;