Overview
The Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health played a key role in advancing legislative efforts to support families while addressing the challenges faced by parents and caregivers with disabilities. Senate Bill 26 (SB 26), filed by Senator Storm, is a bipartisan effort that removes barriers in adoption proceedings, child placement determinations, and termination of parental rights cases. SB 26 emphasizes fair treatment, access to supportive services, and ensures that disability alone cannot be used to deny someone the opportunity to care for a child.
Background and Purpose
During previous workgroup meetings, the Commission's Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) Workgroup highlighted the challenges parents with disabilities face when navigating adoption, foster care, and child custody processes. In the spring of 2024, IDD Workgroup lead Crystal Adams identified this issue as a priority and elevated it to the Commission's Executive Committee for legislative consideration. Following Executive Committee approval, the Workgroup and its partners helped advance the legislative efforts into the 2025 session.
Workgroup members played a vital role in SB 26's success, providing substantial support and interviewing parents and caregivers with lived experience to ensure the legislation reflected the real-world challenges families face.
SB 26 advanced through the legislative process with unanimous approval in both the House and Senate, reflecting strong bipartisan support. It was signed into law by the Governor on March 18, 2025, and enacted later that year. This outcome demonstrates broad consensus on the importance of ensuring parents with disabilities receive equitable treatment under Kentucky law.
Key Provisions:
- Clarifying definitions. SB 26 provides a clear definition of disability, ensuring consistency and uniform decision-making across adoption, placement, and parental rights cases.
- Preventing discrimination. The bill ensures that disability alone cannot justify terminating parental rights, denying an adoption, or rejecting foster or kinship placements, helping maintain stable family environments.
- Supportive Services. SB 26 requires consideration of targeted adaptive or supportive services for parents and caregivers with disabilities, ensuring they have equitable access to the supports needed to navigate these processes.
- Enhancing Transparency and Accountability. SB 26 ensures that decisions are thoroughly documented and reviewed, confirming that adaptive services were considered before any denial based on disability, with records retained for two years to maintain accountability
- Aligning with Federal Standards. SB 26 upholds principles consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act, promoting equitable and fair treatment for individuals with disabilities.
Implementation and Impact
Through these changes, SB 26 strengthens equity, consistency, and fairness across adoption, placement, and parental rights cases. These measures collectively advance the Commission's mission to improve access to justice and create meaningful system change for families impacted by disability.