Mississippi
Disability Type(s) Included in State Law as Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights:
- Intellectual/developmental disabilities
- Psychiatric/emotional disabilities
- Physical/sensory disabilities
- Substance use disorder
Current Termination of Parental Rights Law that Includes Parental Disability:
Miss. Code Ann. § 93-15-121 (2022)
Any of the following, if established by clear and convincing evidence, may be grounds for termination of the parent’s parental rights if reunification between the parent and child is not desirable toward obtaining a satisfactory permanency outcome:
(a) The parent has been medically diagnosed by a qualified mental health professional with a severe mental illness or deficiency that is unlikely to change in a reasonable period of time and which, based upon expert testimony or an established pattern of behavior, makes the parent unable or unwilling to provide an adequate permanent home for the child;
(b) The parent has been medically diagnosed by a qualified health professional with an extreme physical incapacitation that is unlikely to change in a reasonable period of time and which, based upon expert testimony or an established pattern of behavior, prevents the parent, despite reasonable accommodations, from providing minimally acceptable care for the child;
(c) The parent is suffering from habitual alcoholism or other drug addiction and has failed to successfully complete alcohol or drug treatment;